Born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Werdum started training Brazilian jiu-jitsu after being strangled and knocked unconscious with a triangle choke by his then-girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend. He trained with Márcio Corleta at the Porto Alegre Academy, Winner Behring. After success in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Submission Wrestling, he began his career in MMA.

He arrived in Spain to join his mother, who had moved to Madrid a few years earlier. At the age of 17, shortly after his arrival in Spain, when he was just a purple belt, he began teaching the art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu in Madrid and other cities in Spain. Despite only training with white and blue belts, he became a jiu-jitsu world champion, being promoted to the rank of black belt three years later by master Sylvio Behring.

Werdum began his MMA career in Jungle Fight, Millennium Brawl and World Absolute Fight. He had a record of 4-0-1, including a win against Jiu-Jitsu specialist Gabriel Gonzaga. He was once a sparring partner for Mirko Filipović, in such a way, contributing to his Pride debut.

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