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Fabricio Werdum wants to erase Colby Covington from his mind with UFC-Sydney fight looming

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SYDNEY – Fabricio Werdum is putting Colby Covington out of his mind.

Werdum on Thursday (Friday locally) was charged with common assault for allegedly throwing and hitting Covington with a boomerang outside the Hilton Sydney, the host hotel for UFC Fight Night 121.

The ugly incident caught on camera, and its subsequent ramifications, were an unexpected distraction for Werdum (22-7-1 MMA, 10-4 UFC) as he prepares for his headlining bout with Marcin Tybura (16-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) on Saturday in the FS1-televised headliner. And now, with his fight just days away, Werdum would like to shift focus back to what brought him to Australia in the first place.

“I just talk about my fight. My focus, I’m here for a fight,” Werdum told MMAjunkie. “Talking about my fight is best for me.”

Given the unexpected events that have unfolded since Wednesday, and with a December court date in Sydney now looming over him, can Werdum completely focus on the task at hand?

“I have focus for sure. This doesn’t affect nothing, my job. This is nothing for me,” Werdum said. “I’m just focusing on the fight. I have my career. I’m here to fight Marcin Tybura, and he’s a very tough guy. That’s it, man. Sunday, I want to put on a big show for the fans. That’s my big thing here.”

Tybura isn’t expecting anything less from Werdum, either.

“I don’t think I could take advantage of him being part of the situation,” Tybura told MMAjunkie. “I think he’ll still be focused on the fight, and it’ll be the toughest Fabricio Werdum ever.”

Though he faces legal trouble as the result for his encounter with Covington (13-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC), Werdum said the UFC assured him the “main event is going to happen, 100 percent.”

Earlier in the day, Werdum spoke about being tired of the growing trash-talk culture in MMA, which Covington has embraced in controversial fashion. Werdum reiterated his feelings, citing newly crowned women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas’ post-UFC 217 message as the example for how he wishes fighters would conduct themselves.

“She’s amazing, man,” Werdum said. I saw the interview. I posted it on my Instagram. She’s very emotional. She said very nice, real things. Why is this new generation starting to talk bad things and saying bad things about your country … this is no good. Martial arts is about respect. Why don’t we respect everyone?”

For more on UFC Fight Night 121, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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