New York Native Chris Weidman Wants Madison Square Garden for Next Title Defense

A couple of opponents make sense as the next challenger to Chris Weidman’s UFC middleweight title. 
The champ isn’t expressing a preference on who he fights. The “where,” however, is another matter.
Following his title defense Saturday against Vit…

A couple of opponents make sense as the next challenger to Chris Weidman‘s UFC middleweight title. 

The champ isn’t expressing a preference on who he fights. The “where,” however, is another matter.

Following his title defense Saturday against Vitor Belfort at UFC 187, the fighter born and raised in Long Island, New York, said he wants to fight in the UFC’s next card at New York City’s venerable Madison Square Garden. 

“I tell you what: I’m not missing that Madison Square Garden fight, that’s for sure,” Weidman said during the UFC 187 post-fight news conference (h/t MMAjunkie). “That’s all I really care about. People ask me about Jacare [Souza] or [Luke] Rockhold. It honestly doesn’t matter. But at Madison Square Garden, as long as I’m at that venue, I’m a happy man. That’s a dream.”

There’s just one catch on this: The next UFC card at Madison Square Garden will be its first. Pro MMA is not exactly legal in New York, at least not yet. However, there is cautious optimism it could change this year.

A bill to legalize MMA in the Empire State is currently in front of the state assembly. New York is the only state where MMA is illegal.

The bill’s fate is uncertain—and similar bills have petered out in the New York State Assembly several times before—but proponents hope this time will be different. That’s mainly due to the arrest of former assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who was arrested in January on corruption charges. New Speaker Carl Heastie has previously signaled support for the legalization effort. 

Rockhold is currently the top-ranked middleweight challenger in the UFC’s official rankings. Souza is ranked No. 2. With well-rounded skill sets that include strong ground skills, either man poses a significant threat to Weidman.

Saturday’s TKO victory was Weidman‘s third successful title defense. He survived an early barrage from Belfort to score a takedown, after which point, Belfort seemingly was badly overmatched.

Weidman (13-0) landed dozens of unanswered strikes, and the referee stopped the bout at 2:53 of the first round.

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