UFC 211: Fabricio Werdum on standby for Heavyweight title fight after Ben Rothwell USADA bust

Fabricio Werdum was all set to face Ben Rothwell at the upcoming UFC 211 pay-per-view (PPV) event, which is scheduled to go down on May 13, 2017, in inside American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. But, after “Big Ben” was notified of a potential United States Anti Doping (USADA) violation and provisionally suspended, “Vai Cavalo” was left out in the cold without a dance partner. And while Werdum expects to face either Alistair Overeem or Cain Velasquez sometime this summer, he says he is still training just in case Stipe Miocic or Junior dos Santos pull out of the title fight that is set to headline UFC 211.

“I was ready for May 13 fight, Ben Rothwell, but USADA got to him and I don’t know what happened,” said Werdum (via “The MMA Hour.” “It’s very bad because I was waiting for this fight because he talk a lot of shit. Now, I have a lot fights canceled, last one with Cain Velasquez. Now, I am just waiting for the next one. I think the next one is either Overeem or Cain Velasquez in July.

“But, I started my camp for maybe you know, the last year we have a lot of injuries, and I don’t what Stipe or ‘Cigano’ to get injured, but it happens when you have a lot of hard training,” he added. “For May 13, I am there for sure to watch this fight, maybe if guys call me I will be waiting for this fight.”

Not a bad back up plan.

As Werdum alluded to, since he’s now had two consecutive fights fall through, he hasn’t competed since defeating Travis Browne at UFC 203 in Sept. 2016. That’s quite a bit of time to go without a bout or a check, so it’s hard to blame Werdum for preparing himself to be available at the drop of a hat.

To see who is fighting at the stacked UFC 211 event click here.