Fabricio Werdum Knocked Out of the UFC

After a shocking knock out loss to Junior Dos Santos Fabricio Werdum is of the UFC. Mmaweekly.com has the details,

Werdum's exit comes on the heels of a failed contract renegotiation following the loss to dos Santos. The Brazilian came into the fight with the expectation that he would soon be contending for a heavyweight title shot.

The knockout at UFC 90 derailed anything of the like in the near future, and spurred a renegotiation of his contract. Werdum and the UFC were apparently unable to come to an agreement. He has already opened talks with other promotions in the U.S. and Japan.

Fabricio Werdum was a former Pride heavyweight fighter. In his debut in the UFC he fought Andrei Arlovski in what was billed as a number one contender bout. However the fight was so horrendously boring that the winner, Arlovski, did not earn the title shot. Werdum went on to beat Gabriel Gonzaga and Brandon Vera. It appeared that he was on the short list for a title shot, but then Junior Dos Santos ended any chance of that happening in the near future.

For the UFC this is a window into their long-term heavyweight strategy. It seems they have given up on old guard fighters like that demand huge sums of money and put on questionable product. Instead the UFC is focusing in on new comers like Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos. Still these newcomers need reputable competition at some point in their career arc in order to build legitimacy. The UFC heavyweight division is still shockingly thin and Werdum's exit makes it even more glaringly weak, especially if we see him in Affliction.

Also this demonstrates the huge contractual power the UFC holds over its fighters. If you think the NFL is bad for individuals it is appearing that the UFC may be even worse.