Legendary grappler Fabricio Werdum has just become the latest man to be inducted into the ADCC Hall of Fame as a member of the 2024 class. Not only is Werdum incredibly accomplished as a BJJ competitor but he has also gone on to have a fantastic career in MMA as well, even becoming the UFC heavyweight world champion at one point. Although he was always a submission specialist, Werdum even managed to rack up some knockout wins during his professional MMA career as well. Perhaps his most notable win came in 2010 when he managed to submit Fedor Emelianenko and end his incredible run of almost a decade unbeaten at the top of the sport.
Werdum’s time on the ADCC mats were just as impressive and he came in with immediate success on his first attempt in 2003. He won a silver medal in the over 99kg division after losing to Marcio ‘Pe De Pano’ Cruz in the final, before returning for the absolute and winning a bronze medal by avenging that loss in the third-place match. He came back in 2005 and added another bronze medal to his collection from his weight class, although he wasn’t able to reach the podium of the absolute division that year.
2007 was the year that Werdum finally stood on top of the podium, winning the over 99kg division on his third attempt. He returned to defend his title in 2009 and managed to defeat another four challengers to take home his second gold medal, before choosing to make an appearance one more time in 2011. He wasn’t able to win a third title in 2011 but he did reach the final again, conceding just two points to Vinny Magalhaes and leaving with a silver medal. Fabricio Werdum competed earned his place in the ADCC Hall of Fame with over the course of 8 years on the mats, racking up an impressive 22-6 record along the way.
ADCC announced the news that Fabricio Werdum was going to be inducted into the ADCC Hall of Fame as a member of the 2024 class in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
