Back in June Fabricio Werdum went from being a solid Brazilian heavyweight best known for, rightly or wrongly, not making the grade in the UFC, to being the name on everyone’s lips in the space of just sixty-nine seconds.

That’s what ending Fedor Emeliananko’s legendary 10 year unbeaten run does for a fighter.

Several months on from that night Werdum is savvy to the situation he finds himself in and is ready to capitalize on it.

“I defeated Fedor in the last fight. After that I started to be recognized. Strikeforce badly wants me to face Alistair Overeem. I do, but I think I must be more worth more [money] now, that’s how it is in MMA,” Werdum tells GracieMag.

The same applies to a rematch with the Russian who propelled him to stardom in the first place.

“They also want a rematch with Fedor. If Fedor gave me a chance already, why wouldn’t I give him one now? I feel it’s fair. If they pay for it, I see no problem,” he says.

So it seems as if Strikeforce will have to break open their cheque book in order to get him back in the cage, and until they do Werdum notes that he’s not short of other offers.

“My contract isn’t exclusive, so I can fight outside the United States on other events and I have plenty of proposals. I can fight in Abu Dhabi. I was also in Japan recently, that is another market that has interest in me. I can fight there too.”

