Chris Weidman was in an awkward position on the FOX Sports post-fight show. Luke Rockhold had just called him out after his big submission win over Lyoto Machida. And Rockhold’s teammate Daniel Cormier was sitting right next to him on the panel, stirring the pot.
Weidman, though, more than held his own with the microphone in front of him at the conclusion of UFC on FOX 15 on Saturday night.
“He is a very well-rounded fighter, but he doesn’t have an expertise in anything,” Weidman said of Rockhold. “I think that’s going to be the problem he has to face with me. I’m a master at wrestling, I’m a master in jiu-jitsu. Striking, I’m an expert in as well. I’m the best at everything. He’s in trouble.”
By the end of that statement, the UFC middleweight champion had a smile on his face. He was half-joking, but Weidman is the same guy who told everyone he would beat Anderson Silva and went out and did it — twice. The New Yorker is supremely confident and he firmly believes he will beat Rockhold when the time comes.
“It’s all about matchups,” Weidman said. “He did great against Lyoto Machida, but that’s not me. He’s gonna have to deal with a whole different game plan. A totally different ball game.”
Weidman will first have to defend his title against Vitor Belfort in the co-main event of UFC 187 on May 23 in Las Vegas. UFC president Dana White would not say that Rockhold would be next in line if Weidman gets past Belfort, but Weidman surely thinks he is. The other potential opponent could be Ronaldo Souza, who submitted Chris Camozzi in the co-main event Saturday.
It’s hard to top Rockhold’s dominant win over a former light heavyweight champion in Machida, though.
“Amazing performance by Luke Rockhold, but I got May 23 to worry about with Vitor Belfort and [Rockhold] will be the next guy in line,” Weidman said. “I’m waiting on my throne right now with my belt. Very comfortable.”
The undefeated Weidman (12-0) has already beaten Machida, but it was by unanimous decision last July at UFC 175. Rockhold later came on the post-fight show set and the shared some laughs and a little light-hearted trash talk. Weidman said he would “smoke” Rockhold on the ground. Rockhold fired back with more confident statements.
The two men are friendly. And Cormier was sitting between them instigating. But none of the talk will matter. There’s a pretty good chance the two will meet and it could happen before the end of the year. Rockhold already laid out the possibility of it being at the UFC’s first event in New York. The promotion has a date set for December at Madison Square Garden.
Weidman would be more than cool with that. He could ride the Long Island Railroad all the way in with the middleweight belt on his shoulder. Rockhold at The World’s Most Famous Arena is just the kind of primetime battle he wants.
“You want a division full of beasts that come up and make big fights,” Weidman said. “You don’t want bums in your weight class.”