After two confrontations, Júnior Cigano shows respect for Fabrício Werdum and ends the rivalry

J. Cigano and F. Werdum faced each other in MMA without gloves (Photo: Instagram/Gamebred Bareknuckle)

One of the great rivalries of the beginning of the century in MMA has apparently come to an end. Former UFC heavyweight champion (up to 120,2 kg), the Brazilian junior gypsy ended the rivalry with the former belt owner Fabricio Werdum after two fights with his compatriot and showed a lot of respect for the successful career of 'Vai Cavalo'.

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“The truth is, before our fight, I was a fan of Fabricio Werdum, his and the Minotaur. I greatly admired the Fabricio Werdum also, because he was the Brazilian representative in the heavyweight world. And after the fight, everything we said, the way things happened led to this rivalry between us, and we never spoke again. I could never say anything about it because we were feeling this rivalry”, said Cigano.

Cigano recalled the atmosphere of his UFC debut, when he faced Werdum for the first time, and showed respect for the successful career built by his former rival.

“But now, after 15 years, we were able to fight each other again and finally I was there. I said: 'Man, I don't have any anger, I'm grateful. I fought you that day. I admire your career, actually. Fifteen years later, we are here fighting again. I remember my debut when I fought you, I was fighting the Fabricio Werdum, the guy who was a big name at the time. The guy who was already supposed to fight for the title and I was making my UFC debut. Everyone talked about it. So the world might notice me because I was fighting the Fabricio Werdum, so I’m grateful for that”, concluded the former champion.

Cigano and Werdum faced each other for the first time in 2008, in the debut of Luiz Dórea's pupil in the organization, and Junior surprised the world by debuting in Ultimate by knocking out Fabrício, who was already an established heavyweight, very close to a title fight.

The second and final duel took place in September 2023 at Bare Knuckle, 'Boxing without Gloves' and the clash ended with a new victory for junior gypsy, this time, in the unanimous decision of the judges.