UFC heavyweight top five contender and now TUF Brazil II coach, Fabricio Werdum was kind enough to have us come in and check out his gym, Werdum Combat Team located in Los Angeles, CA. During the visit we got his thoughts on the current landscape of his division, as well as info on his upcoming rematch against Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, tentatively set for June 8th.

Werdum admits that he has transformed into a complete mixed martial artist since his first bout with ‘Big Nog.’

“I’m a complete fighter now. Before I was just a jiu-jitsu guy. I want a good fight with him [Big Nog], because I want an opportunity [to fight] for the belt. I think I’ll fight for the belt. First Minotauro, June 8th. Maybe October or November I’ll fight whoever has the belt, whoever is the champ at this time. I think 2013 is my year.”

As to what kind of fight we can expect between the two TUF Brazil coaches. If it’s up to Werdum, he wouldn’t mind keeping it standing.

“I want to show my stand-up. I want to show my improvements in the cage. I liked my first fight back to the UFC. The Roy Nelson fight, because I know I showed my good stand-up. That I’m a complete fighter. I won Fight of the Night. I think this fight with Minotauro is like Muay Thai, [and] Boxing. I’m trying to knock him down, for sure. I know it’s hard, he’s a very good fighter.”

As we come up on the heavyweight title fight rematch between champ Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez, Werdum is confident that a Brazilian will come out the victor once again.

“Dos Santos has the best boxing in the UFC. Velasquez is a complete guy. It’s a good fight, for sure. I want Dos Santos to win again, because I want the rematch with him. Velasquez is going to bring a lot, I know. He has good wrestling, good boxing, good Muay Thai. If Velasquez keeps it standing again, I think Dos Santos knocks him out again.”

When Overeem returns from his suspension in Feb., to take on fellow Strikeforce import Antonio Silva, there’ll be heavy punches thrown with bad intentions. For Werdum the outcome is simple, Bigfoot on top.

“Bigfoot Silva is my friend. I want him to win. I think Bigfoot puts Overeem on the ground. Overeem has good stand up. I think [Alistair] is scared when he gets to the ground. 100 percent I think Bigfoot wins the fight.”

Following the controversy of Alistair Overeem’s suspiciously elevated testosterone to epitestosterone levels, some had questioned the merit of Overeem’s victories. Of those people, includes Fabricio Werdum.

“For sure, the time in 2006, when I fought with him. For sure he was on the juice again. The special juice. All the time he’s on the special juice. I don’t know. In Japan it’s not like here in the U.S.A. There’s a lot of control, I like that, but in 2006 in Japan, in Pride there was control, but not 100 percent. They had tests but don’t find the drugs.”

Should Alistair Overeem get past Bigfoot and should Junior dos Santos get past Velasquez, we would have the originally proposed strikers match between Alistair and Junior. If it all aligns, Werdum says he has his money on Brazil again.

“Yes, maybe Dos Santos knocks down [Overeem]. I think this because Dos Santos has good boxing, he’s a smart guy, very confident in his stand up. I know Alistair Overeem was a champ at K-1 with good stand-up too, but I don’t think Overeem does have a big heart. Dos Santos has a big heart, Overeem has a chicken heart.”

If you’re in the Los Angeles, CA area, drop by Werdum Combat Team and take Werdum up on his offer for a free week of training with him.