Joe Rogan: Fabricio Werdum forgotten when debating heavyweight GOAT

Joe Rogan thinks Fabricio Werdum doesn't get enough credit.

Werdum (24-9-1), a former UFC heavyweight champion and two-time ADCC champion, holds submission finishes over the likes of Cain Velasquez, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Alistair Overeem, and Fedor Emelianenko.

Stipe Miocic, who holds the record for most UFC title defenses, is widely considered the greatest heavyweight of all time. But when discussing the division's greats, Rogan thinks Werdum's name doesn't get brought up enough.

"I don't think there's a real GOAT in heavyweight," Rogan said in a recent episode of his "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast. "Because I think there's times where one guy would have beaten all the other guys. (Velasquez is) in the GOAT category. I would say in heavyweight there's a GOAT category. You've got to put Stipe in there because he defended the heavyweight title more than anybody. He beat (Francis) Ngannou when Ngannou was in his f*cking prime, got rocked a bunch of times and came back. So you've got to give it to him. He's always going to be in the GOAT category.

"Cain, Fedor – of course, Fedor is like the real connoisseur. The real hardcore MMA-heads are like, 'Fedor is the GOAT.' I always say everybody forgets about Fabricio Werdum because Werdum tapped Cain Velasquez, (Rodrigo) 'Minotauro' Nogueira and Fedor – and he tapped Fedor when Fedor was 'Fedor.'

"... When you look at Fabricio Werdum in his prime, he's in that range, man. He beat Cain Velasquez, he beat Mark Hunt with a flying knee to win the title. He beat the best of the best. He beat them all, and he tapped three of the all-time greats."

Werdum hasn't competed in MMA since a no contest against Renan Ferreira in May 2021. Prior to that, he submitted Alexander Gustafsson in a Performance of the Night finish in July 2020.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Joe Rogan: Everyone forgets about Werdum in heavyweight GOAT debate