[bears9]

With his come-from-behind victory over Gabriel Gonzaga at Saturday’s UFC 80 event, Fabricio Werdum — who owns a mere 1-1 record in the UFC — has been granted a heavyweight title shot. He’ll take on the winner of an interim title fight between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Tim Sylvia that headlines next month’s UFC 81 event.

UFC Dana White confirmed Werdum’s upcoming shot at the belt during UFC 80, according to our partners at Yahoo! Sports. (The UFC, of course, is assuming that estranged heavyweight champ Randy Couture, who announced his resignation from the organization in October, will turn down the fight.)

Werdum (10-3-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) is no doubt a top-10 heavyweight. In fact, in my rankings for FIGHT! Magazine and the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts, I had him in the seventh spot — just behind Gabriel Gonzaga. (He’ll go up a spot or two with Saturday’s victory, though.)

However, is Werdum really ready to fight for the title? Will UFC fans consider it a legitimate main event if the UFC gives the fight headliner status?

Your casual UFC fan has seen Werdum fight twice. He dropped a unanimous decision to Andrei Arlovski back at UFC 70 in a hugely disappointing fight. In fact, the winner of that fight was considered a lock for an immediate title shot, but the fight flopped so badly that Gonzaga got the fight instead. The other time UFC fans saw Werdum fight? On Saturday — in a fight he was losing pretty badly. Gonzaga chopped down Werdum with a series of leg kicks, but the 30-year-old rebounded with a stunning TKO in the second round.


Fabricio Werdum Earns Title Shot — And the Reasons Why -- MMAjunkie.com

[EmpireWF]

Werdum already getting a title shot...it's not like he's a terrible fighter. He's good, but it seems like the UFC heavyweight division is in a mess.

[bears9]

I'm confused by this, I would've rather seen the winner of Lesnar-Mir or Chieck Kongo get a shot.

[EmpireWF]

Or Arlovski, who beat Werdum. That's surprising. I wouldn't have a beef if Kongo got the title shot, either.

Strange decision.