Thread: Roy Nelson vs. Fabricio Werdum slotted for UFC 143 in February

Roy Nelson vs. Fabricio Werdum slotted for UFC 143 in February



A heavyweight bout between Roy Nelson (16-6 MMA, 3-2 UFC) and the returning Fabricio Werdum (14-5-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has been slotted for February's UFC 143 event.

Werdum will jump from Strikeforce to the UFC, where he fought from 2007 to 2008, as part of the long-rumored move.

MMAjunkie.com today confirmed the bout with event sources. MMAWeekly.com first reported it.

UFC 143 takes place on the eve of the NFL's Super Bowl, Feb. 4, at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The night's main card airs on pay-per-view, and Nelson vs. Werdum is expected to be part of the broadcast.

Nelson, who won "The Ultimate Fighter 10," likely staved off a UFC release with a third-round TKO of Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic at UFC 137 in October. Prior to the much-needed win, the fan favorite and former IFL champion suffered back-to-back decision losses to Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir.

Werdum won his first three fights after he left the UFC for Strikeforce in 2008. His first two came against Mike Kyle and Antonio Silva, and then in his next bout, he earned the 2010 World MMA Awards "Submission of the Year" trophy for his 69-second armbar/triangle choke of Fedor Emelianenko. The performance snapped Emelianenko's legendary 27-fight win streak.

However, in the opening round of Strikeforce's heavyweight grand prix earlier this year, Werdum suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Alistair Overeem in a flat performance.

The latest UFC 143 card includes:

Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz (for interim welterweight title)
Josh Koscheck vs. Mike Pierce
Roy Nelson vs. Fabricio Werdum*
Renan Barao vs. Scott Jorgensen
Erik Koch vs. Dustin Poirier
Alex Caceres vs. Edwin Figueroa
Jorge Lopez vs. Amir Sadollah
Rafael Natal vs Michael Kuiper

* - Not officially announced

I hope Koscheck gets smashed!