Chris Weidman claims that because he had to withdraw from his championship rematch against Luke Rockhold — which was set to go down this weekend (Sat., June 4, 2016) at UFC 199 in Los Angles, California — he gave the Middleweight champion a gift when Michael Bisping was tapped as his replacement.
That’s because “All American” strongly believes “The Count” has no shot to defeat Rockhold, calling it the “easiest fight in the history of title fights.” Not so, according to Rockhold, declaring on “The MMA Hour” (via MMA Fighting) that it’s actually Weidman who would have been the easier foe since he fights sloppy and ugly like “idiot,” while Bisping is a bit more tactical.
“I think [Weidman] might have been easier, in my opinion. Bisping is just a little bit funner. It’s more tactical. I’m gonna enjoy it more. It’s gonna be funner for the fans. Weidman kind of fights ugly and fights with his balls. Comes forward and might get a little sloppy. I’d pick him off fairly early. I think he overextends. It excites me more. It’s gonna be fun for me. It’s gonna be fun for the fans. I like tactical battles. I like outsmarting him. I like adjusting and making my points. Weidman just kind of fights like an idiot. He just fucking runs forward and exposes himself and kind of overcommits and relies on his toughness. Bisping tries to make it more tactical and I enjoy that, that process of finding my shots and outdoing him, outsmarting him in the cage and putting him away.”
Rockhold already has wins over both men, knocking out Wiedman at UFC 194 in Dec. 2015 to capture the 185-pound title (see it), and choking out Bisping the year prior in Australia. So, it’s safe to say the 185-pound champion will go into either rematch high with confidence, as he says he’ll finish both men in similar fashion again.
For all you need to know about the upcoming UFC 199 pay-per-view event — which also features a Bantamweight title fight between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber — click here.