This is Chris Weidman’s wheelhouse.
The square-jawed, stoically self-assured Long Islander loves to drape himself in the stars and stripes. He loves the big stage. His MMA game pivots on an All-American wrestling base. Though he himself would never couch it in these terms, he brought the UFC middleweight belt back to the good old U.S. of A. after improbably defeating (and then defeating again) Anderson Silva, the Brazilian legend who owned the strap for seven years.
So it’s a no-brainer that he’d be the centerpiece of UFC 175 over Independence Day weekend, always the seat of a signature UFC event.
This time, he faced his first non-Silva opponent as the UFC champion in Lyoto Machida, a close friend of Silva and one of the most skilled fighters on the planet. The former light heavyweight champ has exuded new confidence since dropping down to the middleweight division, where he’s 2-0 behind a newfound power and his trademark defense.
But there’s more. One of the UFC’s biggest celebrities, Ronda Rousey, defended her title Saturday night in Las Vegas against Alexis Davis, a standout grappler in her own right but literally one of the biggest underdogs in UFC history.
As always, the final stat lines only reveal so much. Here are the real winners and losers from UFC 175.