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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion, Chris Weidman, shocked the world back in 2013 with consecutive finishes over then pound-for-pound king, Anderson Silva, turning the 185-pound weight class upside down in the process.
And he’s ready to do it all over again at light heavyweight.
The means to that end is a victory against current 205-pound titleholder Jon Jones, who made a career out of chewing up former UFC champions and spitting them out. But that’s why breaking “Bones” is such a big deal to the “All American” challenger.
“Being the guy that shocks the world, not once but twice, against what people think are the greatest of all time, and against someone that most people think can’t even be beaten,” Weidman told Submission Radio. “And that’s where Anderson Silva was when I fought him and this is where Jon Jones is right now, and so that motivates the hell out of me. That’s the legacy I want.”
Weidman, 35, has some work to do if he expects to fight Jones, beginning with his UFC on ESPN 6 main event against undefeated light heavyweight contender Dominick Reyes, which takes place Fri., Oct. 18, 2019 inside TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
“I always believed there’s a blueprint to beat [Jones],” Weidman continued. “You see it a little bit more, but I always knew he’s beatable, and I think if it was a guy like me with power in the hands and also the wrestling that’s better and Jiu Jitsu. So, I think that’s really I take it to him. But no one’s been able to do that yet. He’s done a great job, he adjusts really well in there. So, that’s the goal, is to get in there with him.”
Jones, 32, has struggled to finish fights over the last few years and routinely finds himself in all sorts of trouble with United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). “Bones” was last seen squeaking by Brazilian bruiser, Thiago Santos, by way of split decision.
It should be noted that former middleweight champions with big dreams have found nothing but nightmares after moving up in weight and Weidman, for all his bravado, has been stopped in four of his last five fights.