Fabricio Werdum Says Recovery Going Well, Looking At March Return

By Mark Wayne | September 21, 2010

Source: Sherdog

Front runner to win 2010 Upset of the Year, Fabricio "Vai Cavallo" Werdum recently spoke with Sherdog.com to detail his ongoing recovery from a recent elbow surgery and also to reveal who he would like to fight next when he makes his return.

Werdum defeated one-time consensus number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world Fedor Emelianenko via first round triangle choke this past June at the aptly titled Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum event. After shocking the MMA world, Werdum announced that he would be taking some time to mend a nagging elbow injury, for which he recently had surgery. The Brazilian submission artist revealed to Sherdog that his recovery is going surprisingly well and that he could be looking at an early Spring 2011 return.

"I'm really happy," said Werdum. "The surgery was such a success and I've been working so hard with the physical therapy that I've already made some movement on the ground a few days ago using 70 percent of my power. My main goal is to work on my shrunken tendon. Besides physical therapy, I'm using a 'Dim Fist' machine overnight. That machine works on extending my tendon."

"I believe that by March, I'll be back to the ring," he added.

"Vai Cavallo" secured his position as a top heavyweight in the Strikeforce promotion (and likely threw a wrench in Strikeforce's plans) by defeating Fedor. There seem to be many options on the table for Werdum's return fight: a rematch with Emelianenko, a fight for the title against Alistair Overeem (whom Werdum defeated via submission in 2006), or a fight against the newly acquired Josh Barnett are all on the table for Werdum but, as far as he is concerned, Werdum wants to focus on his recovery first and foremost.

"I thought it was a great acquisition to the event. Barnett is a really tough heavyweight," said Werdum. "I haven't thought about facing him yet. My goal now is either a rematch with Fedor or (one) with Overeem for the belt. But actually the most important thing for me is not who they will choose, but that my body is 100 percent recovered, so I can show to the ones who thought I was lucky that I was actually ready and pretty well-trained to fight Fedor."

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