Fabricio Werdum Explains Post-Fight Altercation at UFC 203

At UFC 203, former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum defeated Travis Browne in a rematch by unanimous decision. However, there were some shenanigans after the bout. It seemed that things were getting heated between Werdum and the coach of Travis Browne, Edmond Tarverdyan, leading to Werdum actually kicking the man. At the post-fight press conference, Werdum discussed the bout and what happened after the fight. Below are some highlights (transcript via MMAjunkie).

Werdum on the incident after the fight with Tarverdyan: “I don’t know his name, but he said, ‘Hey, shut your mouth, son of a (expletive).’ I said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘Mother(expletive), shut your mouth, mother(expletive).’ I didn’t do the (full) kick. I just kept the distance. I know he’s a boxing coach, and I saw in his eyes he wanted to punch my face. And I just kept the distance. So that’s it. But he came (forward) first; he said a lot of bad things. My mom said never say bad things to nobody. But he started.”

Werdum on the incident with Browne’s hand during the fight: “The referee’s there to keep the fight going or stop the fight. The referee stopped the fight, and that’s it. But he didn’t stop the fight. Sometimes, I’m doing commentary on the UFC network, and I’ve seen a lot of times when the guy says there’s a finger in the eye, and the referee doesn’t stop the fight. The referee didn’t say anything; why didn’t he stop the fight? That’s not my job. I just did my job. And I just give one punch. But I saw because he turned his body, I stopped. And when the referee stopped, I stopped. But I saw his bone; he broke his finger. I don’t understand why the athletic commission didn’t stop the fight.”

Werdum on deserving another title shot: “I think I deserve the title shot again, because before the Stipe fight, I had six straight wins. I think everybody wants to see me and Miocic again. The first fight, I just fought two minutes. It’s no excuse. He got a very good punch, but I think it’s fair.”