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You know a PPV card is in trouble when Fabricio Werdum taking on Mike Russow is easily the most relevant fight of the night.



Even so, this is a pretty interesting heavyweight bout, and one that should help show just where Werdum actually stands in the promotion's banner division.



After completely decimating heavyweight gatekeeper (and part-time punching bag) Roy Nelson with a onslaught of brutal knees from the clinch, Werdum's stock right now is almost as high as it was when he stunned the world by submitting the once immortal Fedor Emelianenko. It was armbar victory that prematurely launched Werdum to the top of some heavyweight rankings.



His next fight, however, was a horrible decision loss against Alistair Overeem in the doomed Strikeforce GP that saw Werdum spent a ton of time lying on his back, practically begging the Dutch kickboxer to jump into his guard.

Although Russow's record seems great at a glance (15-1-1), his level of high-quality opposition is much lower than Werdum's (15-5-1). Russow's most spectacular win came in the form of a brilliant come from behind knockout against Todd Duffee back in 2010.



Russow has decent power in his hands, solid wrestling, and a granite chin (making him almost impossible to finish via strikes). He could definitely pull off an upset.



With that said, Werdum should be the clear favourite here, due to his world-class jiu-jitsu on the ground and an ever improving arsenal of muay thai strikes.



But don't forget: Mike Russow is one of the toughest fighters in the world, and he'll likely try to grind out a sloppy decision victory in hopes of neutralizing his opponent's superior skills.



The fight is an interesting match-up that should help rank a pair of 265-pound fighters knocking at the doorstep of the heavyweight division.