Fabricio Werdum explains the secret to fighting into his 40s

Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum explained the secret to fighting into his 40s and still performing at a high level in MMA.

Werdum is now 43 years old but he is still winning fights against elite opposition who are younger than him. In his last outing on Fight Island back in July, Werdum picked up a huge upset win when he submitted Alexander Gustafsson. After being left for dead following a decision loss to Aleksei Oleinik at UFC 249 this past May, Werdum showed that he still has plenty of gas left in the tank when he beat Gustafsson.

Following the win over Gustafsson, Werdum became a free agent and several promotions courted him in free agency. Bellator president Scott Coker, who worked with Werdum previously in Strikeforce, tried to woo him over with the allure of a rematch with Fedor Emelianenko, but the deal never came to be. Instead, Werdum made a surprise announcement when he revealed he is taking his talents to PFL.

For Werdum to be performing at such a high level and generating so much interest as a free agent despite his age shows that whatever he’s doing is working. Speaking to John Hyon Ko of SCMP, Werdum revealed the secret to fighting so well into his 40s.

“I can’t say to you the secret, cause if I say to you it’s not a secret. No, I’m joking, I’m joking. The secret is just smart training. When you’re very young, you just go, go, go. Now it’s very important to have smart training. You have to use your experience, it’s very important, everything in combination. But I don’t have a secret. Just training. That’s it. The training is the secret,” Werdum said

“Every day you have to train again, again, again. Because I’ve seen sometimes guys train for two or three days then they stop for maybe three days more. You don’t have to stop, you have to be consistent. You have to go again, again, again. When I fought with Fedor (Emelianenko), I didn’t have a fight for one year. Before I signed with Strikeforce, I didn’t have a fight. But every day I went go to the gym and trained again and again. Because I believe that. You have to believe. Some guys just fight to fight. Fight to fight is not good. You have to believe in yourself. That is the secret.”

How do you think 43-year-old Fabricio Werdum will do in PFL?