Fabricio Werdum looks to win one for Brazil

Not a lot is going right these days in Brazil. The president faces an impeachment trial and the political system is in turmoil. Crime is rampant. The Zika virus is a serious problem. The water is tainted. It is less than 100 days until the start of the Olympic Games, and there is still more work needed to get things prepared.

In the sports realm, Jose Aldo was knocked out in 13 seconds by Conor McGregor in December and had a 10-year unbeaten streak ended.

Heck, even the great Anderson Silva has been tainted. After being suspended for a year in the midst of a positive steroids test, he lost his return bout to Michael Bisping and then had to pull out of his bout with Uriah Hall on Saturday in his hometown of Curitiba on the main card of UFC 198 when he needed gall bladder surgery.

It's been a rough go.

But not all is lost. Heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum has been one of the hottest fighters in the world, as well as one of the most underappreciated. He'll defend his belt in Saturday's main event against Stipe Miocic.

A crowd of more than 40,000 is expected to give Werdum a hero's welcome as he makes the long walk to the cage, culminating an unlikely rise to the top.

It's been a long, heady ride and he's going to soak in the love as he makes his entrance.

"This will be a special night for me," he said. "It's going to be a huge party. Brazilians love to party and there will be 100 percent energy in the stadium. I've had the tough road and I've come up from the bottom, and I think the Brazilian people appreciate how I've done it. I'm going to prepare a special surprise for the fans, a special thank you, with my entrance."

He can thank them best by the way he fights. Miocic is one of the best pure athletes in the UFC and he's been improving by leaps and bounds in the cage, as evidenced by his annihilation of Andrei Arlovski in January.

Werdum doesn't necessarily pop to mind when one thinks of the best big men in the sport's history, but his résumé speaks volumes.

He enters Saturday's bout with a 20-5-1 overall MMA record and an 8-2 mark in the UFC. Significantly, though, four of his five losses came in a three-year span from Oct. 23, 2005, through Oct. 25, 2008, when he went 5-4 overall and 2-2 in the UFC.

He was largely a one-dimensional fighter then, a jiu-jitsu ace who was seemingly out of his depth on his feet. But Werdum's striking has become a strength, and he's won nine of his last 10 because of it.

In that span, he's beaten a who's who of the world's elite heavyweights, including the legendary Fedor Emelianenko, Roy Nelson, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Travis Browne, Mark Hunt and Cain Velasquez.

He's got a wonderful jab, vicious knees and punishing kicks. He's an elite jiu-jitsu player, but it's no stretch to say his striking is his strength.

He undoubtedly ranks among the small handful of men who can be considered the best heavyweight in the sport's history, but he sloughs off such talk.

"The thing is, it's important to always be striving to improve and not [live off what you did] in the past," he said. "The athletes are better, the coaches are better, and the techniques are better than ever. If you stay the same, you lose ground."

Werdum hasn't stayed the same by any stretch, though few saw his one-sided win over Velasquez coming in their title fight last June. Werdum had spent months in Mexico preparing for the high altitude in Mexico City and he was in magnificent shape.

Cardiovascular conditioning had always been Velasquez's strength – "Cardio Cain," they called him – but Werdum wore him down. He dominated Velasquez from the bout's earliest moments and submitted an exhausted Velasquez in the third.

Miocic is as athletic and powerful as anyone in the division and won't be easy, but Werdum has never had it easy. He's now ranked fourth pound-for-pound in the UFC's official rankings, behind only Jon Jones, Demetrious Johnson and Luke Rockhold.

He's got confidence and momentum and a nation behind him. He raved about Miocic's skills, but is confident of victory.

"Of course I want to go to Rio [for the Olympic Games] as the champion," he said. "Brazilians are very proud to have the Olympics here and I want to keep the belt and be able to have my own gold [at the Olympics]."