The first opponent to challenge for newly crowned heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum’s title has yet to be established, but the fighters camp have already pinpointed who they think should be given the opportunity.
According to Ariel Helwani on last night’s edition of UFC Tonight Werdum’s manager Ali Abdel-Aziz believes that Andrei Arlovski should get the title shot since financially it makes sense given that he has the biggest name of the current contenders and is also on the longest winning streak after putting together a three-fight unbeaten stretch since returning to the UFC last year, along with a further two wins prior to that.
In all fairness, it’s very much open to debate whether Arlovski is a bigger name than another former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos who’s also currently in the running for a shot at Werdum’s title, though there’s no doubt he would be a bigger draw than Stipe Miocic who’s the other fighter in the title picture.
It is true that Arlovski has the biggest winning steak of the trio currently, though on the other hand he’s actually placed directly behind the other two in the official rankings at No.4, and in terms of the level of competition they’ve been facing in recent years, JDS in particular has consistently been fighting at a higher level.
Whoever it is the UFC decides should get the opportunity, Abdel-Aziz says that Werdum has some bumps and bruises, but intends to defend his title for the first time before the end of 2015.
