Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold | UFC Betting Sites

Chris Weidman Issues Message To Luke Rockhold After UFC 230 Withdrawal

Chris Weidman has broken his silence on this fight being pulled.

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Chris Weidman issues a message to fellow former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold after he pulled out of their fight. They were supposed to fight for a second time at the upcoming UFC 230 pay-per-view event. However, it got nixed once it was revealed that Rockhold was out due to an injury.

Their first fight went down back at the UFC 194 with the middleweight title on the line in December of 2015 that saw Rockhold beat Weidman by TKO to win the championship.

Now, Weidman will fight Ronaldo Souza in the co-main event of this show. Weidman has been out of action for more than a year now due to a thumb injury he sustained during his last fight against Kelvin Gastelum in July 2017.

Although they have fought once before, it appears that there is no bad blood between them. In fact, it seems like they are on good terms these days. Thus, when the news was made of Rockhold being out of this fight, Weidman sent him some well wishes. The former UFC middleweight champ issued the following statement on his official Twitter account:

“I was really looking forward to fighting Luke in this rematch but unfortunately it wasn’t in the cards this time around. This is a tough sport. I’m hoping and praying Luke makes a quick recovery and returns to good health.”

I was really looking forward to fighting Luke in this rematch but unfortunately it wasn’t in the cards this time around. This is a tough sport. I’m hoping and praying Luke makes a quick recovery and returns to good health.

— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) October 20, 2018

The UFC 230 pay-per-view event is set to take place on Saturday, November 3, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York City with the main card airing on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.

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Chris Weidman Issues Message To Luke Rockhold After UFC 230 Withdrawal

Chris Weidman has broken his silence on this fight being pulled.

The post Chris Weidman Issues Message To Luke Rockhold After UFC 230 Withdrawal appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Their first fight went down back at the UFC 194 with the middleweight title on the line in December of 2015 that saw Rockhold beat Weidman by TKO to win the championship.

“I was really looking forward to fighting Luke in this rematch but unfortunately it wasn’t in the cards this time around. This is a tough sport. I’m hoping and praying Luke makes a quick recovery and returns to good health.”

I was really looking forward to fighting Luke in this rematch but unfortunately it wasn’t in the cards this time around. This is a tough sport. I’m hoping and praying Luke makes a quick recovery and returns to good health.

— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) October 20, 2018

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Luke Rockhold Reveals Why He Accepted Chris Weidman Rematch Before 205 Move

Rockhold put plans to move to light heavyweight on hold for this fight.

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Luke Rockhold reveals why he decided to put a move to light heavyweight from middleweight on hold to accept this rematch with someone he knows well.

Rocky Road

The former UFC middleweight champion was looking to make a big change to his pro-MMA career after his latest fight, which was a weight class change. Rockhold is coming off a devastating loss to Yoel Romero in the main event of UFC 221 in Australia.

If you recall, Rockhold was originally slated to fight Robert Whittaker for the middleweight title at the event. However, the promotion had to make changes to the card once Whittaker pulled out with an injury. Thus, the UFC booked Rockhold vs. Romero for the interim title.

Luke Rockhold Reveals

His plans changed once the UFC offered him a rematch against fellow former champion Chris Weidman at the UFC 230 PPV event. In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Rockhold noted that he couldn’t pass up a big middleweight fight at the most famous arena in the world. He did make it clear that he still does plan to make the weight class change in the near future.

“Simple enough, it’s a big fight in a big arena,” Rockhold said (H/T to MMAFighting). “It’s a place I’ve always wanted to go and a perfect match-up. It’s a very fitting situation. It’s something that gets me up, gets me excited, and makes me want to drop that weight. And there’s a hold up. There’s a hold up in the [light heavyweight] division. Obviously I’m very close to ‘DC’ [Daniel Cormier.] I know his standing, where he’s going and what’s going on right now. So there’s a lot of things that need to be cleared up before I make that move and run up on the light heavyweights.”

“It’s Weidman at Madison Square Garden,” Rockhold continued. “He’s an incredible fighter, man. He put away Kelvin Gastelum. People want to discredit Weidman because he’s had a couple of rough fights since we encountered but he showed up. You’re only as good as your last fight, they say. He showed up and put Gastelum away like nobody else has. He’s very relevant in the division. He’s No. 3 in the world so going in an putting him away again speaks volumes.”

“I was seeking this fight,” Rockhold said. “I thought that we could make this thing happen. We were trying to get the Madison Square Garden fight originally so it’s a fitting situation. It’s time to end this thing. We were supposed to have that rematch after the first fight. He thought certain ways about it and it’s time to silence everything, everybody. There was nothing else happening but me dominating that fight. I’m gonna go out there and prove that. Spinning heel-kick, whatever the f**k you guys want to talk about, it doesn’t f**king matter. I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna put an end to this thing. I’m gonna put a stamp on it.”

The UFC 230 pay-per-view event is set to take place on Saturday, November 3, 2018 at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, New York City.

The main card airing on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.

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Seven UFC Rematches That Need To Happen

In the UFC, especially in high-level championship bouts, the stakes are enormous, and the outcomes are unpredictable. Whether it be a major upset, a controversial decision, or a five-round instant classic, fight fans are often left wanting more, and because of that, rematches are so often demanded, although they aren’t always delivered upon. Let’s take

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Let’s take a look at seven UFC rematches that simply need to take place:

1) Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo II

The fighting future of reigning UFC featherweight and UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor is cloudier than ever, and not only because it’s unclear which title he’ll defend next, but also because he has a baby on the way.

McGregor most recently won the lightweight title, and although he’s keen on keeping both straps, some have predicted that he’ll never defend his 145-pound title again, which would be a shame, as a must see rematch awaits at featherweight.

The “Notorious” one took on former longtime champion Jose Aldo, who at the time was the only featherweight titleholder in the promotion’s history, last December. After months and months of build up, McGregor slept Aldo in just 13-seconds with a vicious left hand.

While the result was as decisive as it gets, fans were left with an odd feeling as they were expecting a war. The only way to silence the crowd is to run it back again.

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Michael Bisping: If You Can Believe In Jesus, You Can Believe I’ll Knock Rocky Out

‘The Count’ believes he’ll do better without a full camp… It seems that 2016 is yet another year of the injury bug, as pay-per-view and fight night bouts continue being laid to waste by last minute accidents. The most recent of these main event smashing injuries was Chris Weidman’s withdrawal from the June 4 UFC

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‘The Count’ believes he’ll do better without a full camp…

It seems that 2016 is yet another year of the injury bug, as pay-per-view and fight night bouts continue being laid to waste by last minute accidents. The most recent of these main event smashing injuries was Chris Weidman’s withdrawal from the June 4 UFC 199 PPV card in Inglewood, California. ‘The All-American’ requires surgery due to a rather concerning spinal injury, which he detailed in a graphic Facebook post yesterday. In dropping out of the event, Weidman left a gap opposite the middleweight boss Luke Rockhold, but every cloud has a silver lining.

As a result of Weidman’s injury and removal from UFC 199, we get to see another rematch, this time between the 185-pound champ Luke Rockhold and his old nemesis Michael Bisping.

‘Rocky’ and ‘The Count’ first squared off in Sydney, Australia in late 2014, with Rockhold furthering his claim to the title fight with Weidman by rocking and then submitting Bisping inside two rounds. After finishing Lyoto Machida, Rockhold went on to brutally batter Chris Weidman for the title in a gruelling affair at UFC 194.

Just out of interest, here’s Rockhold’s streak compared to Bisping’s:

Luke Rockhold: Costa Philippou TKO, Tim Boetsch submission, Michael Bispig submission, Lyoto Machida submission, Chris Weidman ~~murder~~ TKO

Michael Bisping: CB Dolloway unanimous decision, Thales Leites split decision, Anderson Silva Unanimous decision

So Luke Rockhold is the bigger man, on home turf, coming in on a streak of finishes that includes one against Michael Bisping, and has a full camp compared to two weeks notice for ‘The Count;’ Where’s the smart money going at the bookies?

Well hold your horses, because Bisping believes the short notice fight is actually in his favor…

continue…

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Luke Rockhold: Chris Weidman Pulled A ‘Bitch Move’ At UFC 194

Reigning UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is undoubtedly one of the most well-rounded fighters on the roster, possessing a vast arsenal of striking attacks, as well as a lethal submission game. Going into his UFC 194 (December 12, 2015) bout with then champion Chris Weidman, however, it was thought that the Long Island native held

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Going into his UFC 194 (December 12, 2015) bout with then champion Chris Weidman, however, it was thought that the Long Island native held the clear advantage in the wrestling department.

Despite that edge, Rockhold prevailed, scoring a fourth round finish and taking the belt home with him to sunny California.

The American Kickboxing Academy product recently said that Weidman turning away from his wrestling was a ‘bitch move’, and it was at that moment that he knew he had the fight in the bag:

“It’s a bitch move,” Rockhold said at a noticabely tense media day Wednesday promoting their UFC 199 rematch. “I mean, the moment he jumped on my back, I knew I had him. The one area where he was supposed to be dominant was his wrestling. For him not to take me down, not to horse me around there, and play his wrestling. For him to jump on my back just felt weak.”

Continuing on, Rockhold said that he noticed a drop in the confidence of Weidman, which in turn only boosted his own self-belief:

“As a fighter, when some guy does that, the confidence isn’t there,” Rockhold said. “That’s how i felt, that’s how I engaged in the situation. I immediately relaxed and grew confidence from that moment.”

At the end of the day, however, Rockhold wasn’t worried by any aspect of Weidman’s game, including the decorated wrestling background of the ex-champion:

“I really knew I would control every aspect of the fight, I didn’t see him be able to do that [outwrestle him],” Rockhold said. “It’s a matter of how good I would be on top. I thought he’d be able to be tougher off the start. I know I’d find the holes and find the openings and expose them.”

Check out the full video below courtesy of Fancy MMA:

How do you see the rematch at UFC 199 (June 4, 2016) playing out?

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