Fabricio Werdum has now been forced to withdraw from his upcoming fight against Brandon Sayles at PFL 6 as a result of the lingering effects of the knockout he suffered back in his promotional debut. Werdum signed a contract with the Asian promotion late last year and was one of the early favorites to make a big splash in the 2021 Heavyweight season almost immediately. Unfortunately, he got off to a rough start at PFL 3 when he came up against Renan Ferreira and was knocked out inside the first round after letting go of an early submission attempt.
Werdum was incredibly upset after the match, justifiably so, because he let go of the submission attempt when he felt his opponent tap. He later contested the result and the commission in charge ruled in his favor, overturning the result to a no contest and nullifying the points that Ferreira would have gained in the PFL season. His debut fight was on the very same event as Olympic Judoka Kayla Harrison’s first fight of the 2021 season and the beginning of her journey to a second consecutive PFL Championship win, along with another million-dollar prize.
PFL 6 was set to be the last fight of the regular season for both Fabricio Werdum and Kayla Harrison, this would determine which competitors made it through to the semifinals and get an opportunity to fight for the title if they win. Now that Werdum has been removed from his fight and there is no news as to whether it will be delayed or a replacement will be found for his opponent, Brandon Sayles, it seems unlikely that he will be able to make it into the semifinals as originally expected.
The full PFL 6 main card will be available to watch on ESPN 2 while the preliminary card will be available to watch on ESPN+ on May 6th, click here to subscribe and watch.
