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Werdum, who defeated Browne*by unanimous decision, engaged in a heated war of words with Browne’s coach Edmond Tarverdyan (who also trains Ronda Rousey) before Bruce Buffer announced the result. The former heavyweight champion punctuated the argument with a swift front kick to Tarverdyan’s chest. Both corners spilled into the middle of the Octagon, ready for battle, while Werdum went into a fighting stance.
Here's the moment Fabricio Werdum kicked Coach Edmond Tarverdyan. (Via https://t.co/lYUdsyuHrq) pic.twitter.com/bXZ2kvR2JK
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) September 11, 2016
Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed as both corners were escorted out of the cage and the decision was finally read. The near melee was part of a bizarre fight that saw Werdum open the bout with a jumping sidekick to Browne’s face. Later in the first round, Browne attempted to block a Werdum punch. Immediately after he parried, Browne turned away in pain from what appeared to be a dislocated finger. The Hawaiian heavyweight attempted to call a time out to referee Gary Copeland, but was met with a left hook from the Brazilian.— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) September 11, 2016
Copeland finally paused the fight and brought a doctor in to check on Browne’s injured hand and ultimately allowed the fight to continue. The issue with this was that an injury due to a legal move should have resulted in a TKO victory for Werdum under the unified rules of MMA. However, that wouldn’t happen and the fight continued and saw Werdum claim the decision victory with scores of 30-27, 29-28, 29-27.
It was Werdum’s first victory since losing his heavyweight title to Stipe Miocic in May while Browne dropped his second consecutive fight and has now lost three of his last four.