Fabricio Werdum Wants to Fight for Affliction, Next Opponent for Josh Barnett?

A brutal uppercut from Junior "Cigano" dos Santos knocked out Fabricio Werdum at UFC 90, and shortly after Werdum learned that he had been knocked out of the UFC entirely.

But while Werdum was disappointed to be dropped from his UFC contract, he now says he sees some benefits to free agency -- including the possibility of fighting for Affliction. In a new article at Tatame (translated by Free Fight Videos), Werdum mentions Affliction as a promotion he'd like to fight for.

I think it would make perfect sense for Affliction to sign Werdum to fight Josh Barnett at the January 24 Affliction: Day of Reckoning show. Affliction hasn't yet found an opponent for Barnett, and Werdum is probably the best they could get.

A full English translation of Werdum's remarks to Tatame is below.

Exclusive: Werdum Talks About His Departure From the UFC
It has been a troubling month for Fabricio Werdum. Rumors of his departure from the UFC began soon after his loss to Junior Dos Santos at UFC 90. While he first denied the speculation, he now can confirm his exit from the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

"When I first heard the rumors, I didn't know anything. I had four more fights left with them on my contract, which ran to 2010. But they demanded to renegotiate my existing contract by cutting my pay in half," revealed the heavyweight.

He added that his departure had nothing to do with the video game licensing dispute: "No that wasn't an issue but it's not something that benefit's the fighters"

"It's a pity. I would have liked to continue with the UFC, but now we forge ahead," said Fabricio, who still has plans to move to the US.

"I still plan to go to the United States with my family. I'm open to negotiations with Affliction, Sengoku and Dream," said Werdum. "I'm a free agent now."

"One of the advantages of leaving the UFC is the freedom of contract, which allows fighters to work with more than one event without any problems. That's very beneficial. There are several possibilities now including fighting in multiple organizations. Affliction, Sengoku and Dream are big events, but I think the possibility of fighting for Affliction in particular will give me the best chance to fight the best in the world, Fedor (Emelianenko), in addition to (Andrei) Arlovski, Josh Barnett and several other big names ...That would be a great opportunity for me" concluded Werdum.