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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The first season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil featured two of the countries biggest MMA stars as coaches in Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva. When talk began for the second season of the show in Brazil, two more big names talked about wanting to coach, former Light Heavyweight Champions Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.
However, the UFC wound up going in a different direction, announcing Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabricio Werdum in that slot. For Werdum, the opportunity was an unexpected one, but one which he's excited for.
"I didn't think I was as known in Brazil as Nogueira and 'Shogun' and Lyoto, so I really didn't believe that it was going to happen," Werdum said in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. "But my coach reached out to [UFC matchmaker] Joe Silva asking about my next fight, and Joe did say it was a possibility."
The opportunity also came after Werdum offered his services to Strikeforce in an attempt to save their planned Nov. 3 event. His public offer to fight Daniel Cormier didn't come to fruition, but he'll now have a much more high-profile fight against Nogueira next year. He also thinks he's much improved, and he's ready to keep moving up the ladder in the division.
"After seven years, I think I've evolved a lot in my game," Werdum said. "Back then, I was pretty much a jiu-jitsu fighter. I've worked a lot on my standup, and Nogueira has obviously evolved a lot too. It's just a great honor, and my biggest goal is to fight for the title. I have to win this fight in order to be in title contention."
Penick's Analysis: Werdum's shown a striking game in his last two fights that is vastly improved from what it's been in the past. He's made the type of strides in that aspect of the game to make him a more than formidable foe for anyone standing across the cage from him. This fight with Nogueira after a stint on The Ultimate Fighter is just the type of opportunity to vault him right into a title fight, because it will get him the most exposure he's ever gotten in Brazil. It could be even bigger for him on a grand scale than the win over Fedor Emelianenko in 2010, and it's exactly what he needs in his UFC run.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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