Fabricio Werdum, Junior dos Santos Discuss Bareknuckle Rematch at Gamebred FC 5

The rematch between former UFC heavyweight champions Junior dos Santos and Fabrício Werdum is attracting the attention of Brazilian fans.

The bareknuckle MMA fight, which will be the main event of Gamebred Fighting Championship 5, takes place almost 15 years after the first showdown and will be broadcast live on the Combate channel in Brazil on Friday. In the first confrontation, at UFC 90 in October 2008, dos Santos made his debut in the promotion and knocked out the favored Werdum, who was on the last fight of his contract and close to a title shot.

“Since I lost, the UFC made an unreasonable proposal and ended up forcing me to leave the promotion and restart my career at Strikeforce,” Werdum told Sherdog.com.

This first fight and its ensuing consequences ended up forging a great rivalry between Werdum and “Cigano. While dos Santos started a meteoric career in the UFC, earning six more victories that would culiminate in a first-round knockout of then champion Cain Velasquez in 2011, Werdum would have to start from scratch at Strikeforce, beating Mike Kyle, Antonio Silva and Fedor Emelianenko — a major turning point in his career.

Despite all the exchanges of barbs over the past 15 years, Werdum guarantees he won't take it to the ring in Friday's fight.

“I'm not worried about the past, I don't think about it. The business is 100% professional, zero personal, zero rivalry,” Werdum said. “Those who live in the past are a museum.”

Werdum’s stance was a surprise to dos Santos.

“In fact, the rivalry was created by Werdum himself, due to the way he portrayed himself in relation to me with controversial statements,” dos Santos told Combate.com. “And this time I really liked what I saw. A very centered, very calm Werdum, and focused on the main thing, which is to put on a great fight, a good show for the crowd to watch, and without trash talk. This time, the way I see it is interesting, and it makes me even more excited to be well prepared and expect a Werdum that is also well prepared.”

Since their first meeting occurred 15 years ago, “Cigano” believes the first encounter will have little impact on the rematch.

“It was an extremely important fight for my career, if not the most important one. So I remember everything very well,” dos Santos said. “But we are completely different athletes. But one thing that doesn't change is the approach. He's a grappler and I’m a striker, that's still the same. But I think that as athletes we evolved in some senses, maybe we changed in other senses, or regressed in others, but that's why I say it's not even a rematch, it's a second fight. It's another fight, much later. I don't think they have anything to do with each other. anything can happen, especially for heavyweights.”

Still, dos Santos is confident he can repeat history and knock out his rival once again.

“I see it that way,” dos Santos said. “Even in the beginning I see him wanting to trade a little more, but as soon as he starts to feel the hands, he will start looking for the takedown. My intention is to knock him out again.”