By Michael Owens
Fabricio Werdum may not be guaranteed his shot at the UFC heavyweight title just yet.
The Brazilian submission ace looked set to face off against Cain Velasquez in early 2014 after the AKA product pulverised Junior Dos Santos in October. He was even told as much after that fight, following his armbar of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in June.
However, shoulder surgery for the champ has put a halt to those plans.
A report on UFC tonight suggested Cain won’t be ready to fight until late 2014.
Werdum has already had a substantial layoff, and subsequent tweets from Ariel Helwani suggest the UFC’s top brass won’t let ‘Vai Cavalo’ warm the bench and wait for Cain for that long:
Werdum definitely deserves an opportunity to have a crack at the belt.
He has looked very impressive since moving to the UFC from Strikeforce, beating Mike Russow and Roy Nelson as well as Big Nog to elevate his MMA record to 17-5-1.
However, it would be unrealistic to expect Dana, Lorenzo and Joe Silva to put the entire heavyweight division on hold for the best part of the year just to placate their #2 fighter.
While Werdum has not agreed to fight either Barnett or Browne yet, one fighter seems very excited at the proposition of a #1 contender fight.
Browne is 15-1-1 and the #5 ranked UFC heavyweight. Barnett is a veteran of the sport with a record of 33-6, ranked at #6 in the heavyweight division and is unlikely to have a problem with fighting Werdum either. The pair will face off on the main card of UFC 168 on 28.
