Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum will face Ben Rothwell in a top contender match-up at UFC 211 in Dallas on May 13th, it has been confirmed. The pair were supposed to meet in September of last year but a knee injury suffered by Rothwell in training forced his withdrawal from the bout.
Werdum’s last engagement in the cage was a unanimous decision victory over Travis Browne last September, a fight which got the Brazilian back in the win column following losing his UFC title to Stipe Miocic in Cleveland in May. Werdum was slated to face another former heavyweight titleholder in Cain Velasquez in December but a back injury suffered by Velasquez put paid to that.
Rothwell, on the other hand, was in the midst of a four fight win streak before dropping a lopsided decision to Junior Dos Santos but prior to that he became the first person to ever submit Josh Barnett in mixed martial arts competition, forcing a tap from the veteran with the same gogo choke he submitted Matt Mitrione with in his previous bout.
The fight will be the co-main event of the UFC 211 card which is to be headlined by a clash between heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and Junior Dos Santos and the result of these two bouts will go a long way to clearing up the state of play in the UFC’s heavyweight fold.