Chris Weidman: Five best in-class fighters at UFC 205 – No. 5, Middleweight

In this special five-part series to celebrate the awesomeness of UFC 205, we will look at five fighters on the marquee who are the very best in their weight class — and possibly the sport — at what they do. Five out of five-star fighters, if you will. We will examine the case for their superiority, look at what makes them so good at what they do, and give an idea of what you can expect once the cage door slams shut.

UFC 205, as it stands, is the best collection of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) talent ever assembled to compete in one night (fight card subject to change, of course). The level of starpower and skill that will be on display inside Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y., this Saturday night (Nov. 12, 2016), is quite simply, ludicrous. The pay-per-view (PPV) card features at least five fighters in their primes who may be considered the best at what they do in their weight class, taking on opponents who are both credible and dangerous in their own rights.

The stars of the show, Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez, probably won’t “steal the show” — a McGregor-led card will always be about McGregor — but several of his fellow fighters have also been cast in high-stakes matches this weekend that could advance them to “next-level’ status. In the first part of this UFC 205-inspired series, we will take a look at perhaps the best traditional pressure fighter in mixed martial arts (MMA) today, former Middleweight champion Chris Weidman.

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Fighter: Chris Weidman
Division: Middleweight (185 pounds)
Top Skill: Pressure Fighting

Even in his recent loss to Luke Rockhold — a fight that could only be described as a war in the cage — Weidman’s mental resilience was on full display. In this sport, mistakes at the highest level are magnified and the smallest errors punished without mercy. Weidman’s attempt at a spinning wheel kick was a textbook example of this in his loss to Rockhold. The momentum of the fight had been swinging in his favor prior to his miscalculation; however, Rockhold used this opening to take him down, landing brutal punches and elbows. Weidman’s will to fight, though, never gave out. He made it into the fourth round before the referee finally waved off the bout. His insane toughness even in the face of a demoralizing beatdown is a vital quality to being a good pressure fighter. Matt Brown, Rafael dos Anjos, John Lineker — all pressure fighters, all as effective in fights as their ability to take punishment. And Weidman is arguably the best of them.

He beat Anderson Silva (not once, but twice), but his magnum opus was his second title defense against Silva’s former Black House teammate and karateka, Lyoto Machida. Machida is one of the best elusive fighters ever, and Weidman made their match into a strategic battle, cutting off the cage with small steps, forcing Machida to constantly think about getting away.

This is the typical Modus operandi of a pressure fighter — manipulating their opponents’ positions through the use of small calculated movements, squaring their stance, keeping their foes in their sights. These tactics are incredibly taxing and force mistakes. Machida dropped the first three rounds looking for space to work while Weidman, ever patient, piled up jabs and low kicks.

In the fourth round, Machida accepted that there was no way out and entered an inside-pocket battle, right on the edge of the clinch with Weidman. Machida took advantage of his own lack of telegraph to land hard straights and went to the body with kicks that have broken other fighters’ ribs. Weidman — completely unfazed — returned with kicks, landing heavy shots of his own … particularly elbows. Whenever Machida seemed to be gaining momentum, he was met with Weidman’s savvy use of takedowns. At close range, Machida’s vaunted wrestling defense didn’t hold up, and the top control time was crucial for Weidman, the All-American wrestler.

In the fifth round, after Weidman dominated a long stretch with top control, Machida disengaged and went after Weidman with everything he had — a flurry of punches leading into elbows and clinch knees from the double collar tie. As Machida broke off, completely spent, Weidman turned his hand palm upward and waved him on. It’s this bold image that sticks in my mind the most of Weidman — unflappable, tough, relentless, confident.

That confidence is not something every fighter has, nor is the relentless aggression and ability to bite down and keep coming in the face of skull-rattling shots. But, that is the core of Weidman’s game. What he does isn’t pretty, but he is patient enough to be technical with it. When Silva didn’t want to give him any openings, trying to bait him into overextending, Weidman stayed over his feet, flicking jabs in the face of the greatest Middleweight in history. He knew that he was winning and was willing to do whatever that entailed, even if it meant chipping away with low kicks and jabs.

He does use kicks — low, middle and high — to cut off the cage, as well as that left hook that knocked out “The Spider.” His preference to double up on his right hand as he comes in makes it difficult for his opponent to slip to either side. Being comfortable in the clinch is a huge boon to a pressure fighter, and Weidman is excellent there as well. He is adept at standing elbows, throws hard knees, and has strong control against the cage. Most of his takedowns come in open space, however, and they add another reason for his opponents to back up, step forward, and risk giving up a takedown to one of the finest top control grapplers in the 185-pound division.

The argument that Weidman is the best pressure fighter — or at least the most accomplished — in UFC is strong. He has the most impressive resume of anyone we will discuss in this series. Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo — one of the all-time greatest Brazilian strikers. While that is nothing short of remarkable, Weidman finished Anderson Silva, twice, then took out Machida and Vitor Belfort in succession. Machida and Silva are two of the finest counter fighters in history, so to corral them successfully was no easy task. In UFC at large, only dos Anjos comes close to Weidman’s accomplishments as a pressure fighter. Despite his loss last Saturday to fellow pressure machine Tony Ferguson, dos Anjos is a textbook example of the risks, as well as the rewards, of this style. Dos Anjos crushed a “Who’s Who” of top-ranked Lightweight fighters, only to have Eddie Alvarez wobble his internal gyroscope with a seemingly routine punch, then finish him with a barrage for which “RDA” had no answer. Pressuring doesn’t necessarily mean one has bad defense, but the choices made prioritize staying in an opponent’s face, and that’s a dangerous place to be even for defensively sound fighters. Weidman is remarkable, therefore, for not only his power and grit, but also his chin. He’s incredibly confident in his ability to take damage and emerge undeterred. That can’t be taught. Certainly, no pressure fighter at Middleweight matches his accomplishments.

Weidman is faced with a man-mountain of a task on Saturday night in the form of the hulking and fluid Yoel Romero. An Olympic silver medal-winning freestyle wrestler, Romero will be nearly impossible to control on the ground for an extended period. And his ability to change speeds and land huge shots out of nowhere make this the most difficult fight in the division for Weidman outside of possibly Rockhold. Weidman is hittable, and Romero can put down anyone with the shots he throws. He is excellent at breaking rhythm as well. Nonetheless, he is a burst fighter. And if Weidman doesn’t get hurt or stunned, he should take this on the soundness of his process and his ability to wear down Romero over the course of the fight. If so, it will be a hero’s night for the Long Island native in Madison Square Garden with a potential title shot looming on the horizon.

We’ll continue part two of this series tomorrow, taking a look at one of Weidman’s training partners who is also competing on the card. Here’s a hint: