Fabricio Werdum wanted Vale Tudo rules in Junior dos Santos fight

Fabricio Werdum wanted Vale Tudo rules for his upcoming bare-knuckle mixed martial arts (MMA) fight against Junior dos Santos.

The two former UFC heavyweight champions are set to headline Jorge Masvidal’s upcoming Gamebred Bareknuckle 5 event. While the very concept of bare-knuckle MMA alone might stump some, Werdum wanted to take it a bit farther. Speaking to MMA Junkie, the Brazilian admits he tried to speak to Masvidal about having the fight under Vale Tudo rules to allow soccer kicks, stomps, and more.

However, it turns out that there wasn’t enough time to try and make a rule change like that right before the event.

“The first time I saw (Jorge) Masvidal, which was like two months ago in Las Vegas, I told him that I wanted to do Vale Tudo so we could headbutt, do soccer kicks, stomps, everything,” Werdum said. “However, he told me that there wasn’t enough time to look into changing the rules. But anyway, I do like this idea.

“I think that MMA gloves are so small that it doesn’t make a difference. It’s the same. It’s the same to have gloves or no gloves. Now, if it’s a boxing glove, then you’ve got a difference. But I do like this idea.”

This contest will be Werdum’s first since May of 2021 when he competed for the Professional Fighter’s League (PFL). Werdum fought Renan Ferreira in a bout he initially lost via TKO, but the result was later overturned to a No Contest after it was revealed that Ferreira actually tapped out to a triangle choke beforehand.

As for JDS, he’s on a five-fight losing streak, not having picked up a victory since his 2019 TKO victory over Derrick Lewis in the UFC. His last outing saw him suffer a third-round TKO loss to Yordan De Castro under Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Eagle FC 47 banner last year. A shoulder injury forced the bout to stop, earning De Castro the TKO win.

Now, two of the most exciting heavyweights in MMA history will look to pick up a much-needed win in bare-knuckle format.