Issue 184

November 2019

The veteran Brazilian on masks and motivation.

You were very emotional the moment that the UFC heavyweight title was wrapped around your waist for the first time. Can you describe the emotions you were feeling in that moment?

The first time when I won the title versus Mark Hunt I stayed in Mexico for two months at that very high altitude. I didn’t see my family the entire time. I didn’t see my daughters or anything. I just trained. I was just with my team, with my brothers. It was very, very hard. I invested a lot of money in that camp, too. The camp, when I fought Hunt, I spent $50,000 of my own money out of my pocket. I made that investment. I had a house there. The flights, the food, everything was out of pocket. It’s not just about the money. It was all that went into that fight. The moment I put the belt around my waist I was very emotional because all of that stuff ran through my head in that moment. I enjoyed that moment. I deserved that moment. 

You said that you signed a “millionaire contract” with the UFC shortly thereafter. That had to feel good.

I’m rich, man. No, I’m joking. I’m not rich but that’s OK. In the UFC when you have a millionaire contract I guess you are rich in a way. I have a very good contract and I am very happy about that.

Your smile, the “Werdum Face”, took the internet by storm. I heard the face and look stems from the actual Joker character. 

Yes. It was just a joke at first. I made 45,000 masks for the fans on the internet. At UFC 198 everybody at the stadium had a mask to cover their face for that fight. It started as a joke but it might be a big break, you know? It’s very nice. 

Who inspires you to the heights you have reached in the sport?

The inspiration for me was when I first watched Wanderlei Silva and Minotauro Nogueira fight in Pride. When I first saw Nogueira in Pride I just had jiu-jitsu in my life at the time. After I saw them fight it was a huge inspiration for me. I saw Wanderlei and his fighting style and then I saw Nogueira and his great jiu-jitsu as well. That was the motivation and inspiration for me.