Former Strikeforce heavyweight Fabricio Werdum will make his return to the UFC at UFC 143 against “Big Country” Roy Nelson.
The fight was announced earlier today by MMAWeekly.com.
Werdum (14-5-1) was on a fantastic run in the Strikeforce heavyweight division defeating Mike Kyle, Antonio Silva and even “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko, however that streak was put to a halt with a lacklustre decision loss to Alistair Overeem in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarter-Finals.
Nelson (16-6) was very close to losing his job with the UFC following back to back losses at the hands of Junior dos Santos and Frank Mir, but he regained steam and a slimmer build with a third round TKO stoppage against PRIDE and UFC veteran Mirko “Cro Cop”Filipovic at UFC 137.
UFC 143 is set to be headlined by an interim welterweight title fight between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit. Look for Wedum vs. Nelson to fill the co-main event slot.
Rumored UFC 143 Fight Card…
- Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz (for interim welterweight title)
- Fabricio Werdum vs. Roy Nelson
- Josh Koscheck vs. Mike Pierce
- Renan Barao vs. Scott Jorgensen
- Erik Koch vs. Dustin Poirier
- Alex Caceres vs. Edwin Figueroa
- Jorge Lopez vs. Amir Sadollah
- Rafael Natal vs Michael Kuiper
