Fabricio Werdum lands deserved homecoming title defense at UFC 198

Fabricio Werdum’s glorious rise to becoming UFC heavyweight champion nets him a homecoming Saturday at UFC 198, where the skilled mixed martial artist will defend his belt against second-ranked Stipe Miocic at a stadium in Brazil expected to draw 45,000 fans.

“This is my country,” Werdum said. “It is a special moment in the history of MMA and the UFC. It’s the first time in the stadium and [my] first time having a heavyweight title fight in Brazil. My mom is here too. It’s the first time she has come to watch me fight. My mom had her birthday yesterday and I want to say something to her when I beat Stipe Miocic. I want my mom to come in the octagon. I’m very excited for that.”

Werdum, who trains at Kings MMA in Huntington Beach, has earned the night. He wasn’t supposed to beat the supposedly unbeatable Russian hero Fedor Emelianenko in San Jose years ago, but found a way to submit him. The humble Werdum then landed a UFC title shot against bigger puncher Cain Velasquez in Mexico City, and won there, too.

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He’s well aware that the heavyweight belt is difficult to hang onto, but says he wants to beat the odds by doing that, too, against the heavy-handed Miocic (14-2), who has knocked out punchers Mark Hunt and Andrei Arlovski in his last two fights.

“I want to be different from other people,” Werdum said. “I want to be able to defend the title and keep fighting, and make sure I am able to actually keep fighting for another three or four years after. I don’t want to be able to just lose the title and then decide I’m going to retire. I want to be able to keep working hard and giving it my all.”

UFC 198 begins at 7 p.m. Pacific time on pay-per-view.

The July 9 Velasquez-Travis Browne winner awaits, as does Werdum’s interest in one day fighting former light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who will seek to recapture his belt against Daniel Cormier in the UFC 200 main event.

Miocic, meanwhile, understands he’s walking into a massive den as the enemy, but the likable Cleveland product said he embraces the challenge.

“Cleveland against the world, that’s how we say it,” he said.

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The UFC 198 card was supposed to include Brazil’s former long-reigning middleweight champion Anderson Silva, but he fell ill with pain that required surgery to remove his gall bladder.

The card includes a middleweight fight between second-ranked Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and third-ranked former champion Vitor Belfort.

Also, Orange-County-trained Brazilian Cris “Cyborg” Santos (15-1) makes her long-awaited UFC debut in a 140-pound fight against Leslie Smith.

Twitter: @latimespugmire

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