Werdum recalls giving Gustafsson ‘five stitches’ after 2012 sparring session

There is apparently a bit of history between Fabricio Werdum and Alexander Gustafsson.

Former UFC champion Fabricio Werdum is set to welcome Alexander Gustafsson into the heavyweight division when they face each other on July 25 in “Fight Island.” And apparently, there is a bit of history between the two, dating back to around 2012.

In a recent conversation with Sherdog, the 42-year-old Brazilian recounted a sparring session with Gustafsson that went wrong and led to some tension afterward.

“It happened around eight years ago when I went to train wrestling at Mark Munoz’s academy,” he recalled. When I arrived there, Travis Browne and Gustafsson were doing an MMA sparring session coordinated by his trainer, who invited me to join them. I imagined the trainer would do some kind of rotation sparring, but he put me in the middle with both coming in sequence,”

“Of course it was not fair. First I did it with Browne, later with Gustafsson and again with Browne and again with Gustafsson,” he continued. “In that second sparring session, Gustafsson opened a cut on my nose, then I grabbed his neck in a Thai clinch and hit a knee in his face, which opened a big cut.

“I imagine he got around five stitches in there. Of course, Gustafsson and his trainer got angry with me, said a couple of bad words and the sparring didn’t finish in a good atmosphere.”

As a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and grappling specialist, Werdum was candid enough to lay out his game plan for the upcoming fight, especially since he’s getting some extra help.

“I don’t have a problem talking about tactics,” he said. “Gustafsson knows I want to take him down and that’s no secret. And I’ll take him down and submit him. I live on the same street as Lyoto Machida, and he is helping me a lot concerning approach and distance for this fight.”

Werdum is looking to break a two-fight skid. He last competed at UFC 249 in May, where he lost to Aleksei Oleinik via split decision.