Tag: Chris Weidman

Chael Sonnen Relieved He Never Drew Chris Weidman as an Opponent

Chael Sonnen has never been one to back down from a fight, but he is also grateful the UFC never called for him to fight Chris Weidman.The former middleweight contender has been singing Weidman’s praises for months, and he certainly isn’t alone.Despite…

Chael Sonnen has never been one to back down from a fight, but he is also grateful the UFC never called for him to fight Chris Weidman.

The former middleweight contender has been singing Weidman‘s praises for months, and he certainly isn’t alone.

Despite skepticism from fans, many UFC fighters seem to believe Weidman will shock the world at UFC 162 by defeating Anderson Silva for the middleweight title. In the extended preview for the event, Sonnen admitted Weidman was one of the few fighters he preferred not to have to step into the cage against:

“Weidman far and away can beat Anderson. I will fight anybody at any time, but every time my phone rang, I would think, jeez, I hope they’re not going to tell me I got Chris Weidman.”

Weidman, a former NCAA All-American wrestler, is a true prodigy in every sense of the word.

With only one year of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training, he nearly defeated grappling legend Andre Galvao at the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship.

Weidman made his UFC debut in March 2011, and after only two years, he is already listed as the top contender in the middleweight division. Sure, he doesn’t bolster Olympic medals or NCAA titles, but Weidman‘s transition from wrestler to MMA fighter far exceeds that of even some of the most decorated grapplers.

During the extended preview, UFC commentator Joe Rogan compared Weidman‘s wrestling with UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre, a world class grappler without any wrestling credentials.

Sonnen isn’t the type of fighter to throw around undeserved compliments regarding his peers. For a young fighter like Weidman, it has to be encouraging hearing some of the best fighters in the world talk up his chances against arguably the greatest fighter of all time.

Unfortunately for Weidman, talking about defeating Silva and actually going out there and doing it are two completely different things.

Will Weidman be able to succeed where so many others have failed?

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UFC 162: Matt Serra Unable to Corner Chris Weidman Against Anderson Silva

Chris Weidman faces a monumental task ahead of him at UFC 162 when he faces UFC middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva. That obstacle just became a bit harder, as Weidman will be without one of his top coaches.According to MMA Fighting, Weid…

Chris Weidman faces a monumental task ahead of him at UFC 162 when he faces UFC middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva. That obstacle just became a bit harder, as Weidman will be without one of his top coaches.

According to MMA Fighting, Weidman‘s coach and former welterweight champion Matt Serra will be unable to corner his prized student.

Mike Chiappetta reportedly spoke to Ray Longo (Weidman‘s other main coach) and confirmed the reasoning behind Serra’s absence.

In April, it was discovered that Serra had thoracic outlet syndrome, which caused his rib and collarbone to compress a vein, restrict blood flow and cause clots. He required surgery to remove his first rib, the one closest to his collarbone. Unfortunately since then, he had another setback.

The health scare combined with the recent birth of his third child forced Serra’s hand in staying back for UFC 162.

“I’ll miss Matt, he kind of rounds me out as a coach,” Longo said. “It was a hard decision for him to have to make, but sometimes family has to come first.”

A family-first mindset seemed to be on Weidman‘s mind, as the middleweight title challenger looked to replace Serra with his own father for UFC 162.

I’m sure Weidman‘s father will provide great inspiration for the challenger, but he’ll undoubtedly miss the coaching advice from Serra.

Weidman has been a part of team Serra-Longo since day one in MMA and will look to match his mentor in pulling off one of the greatest upsets in MMA history against Silva at UFC 162.

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MMA’s Great Debate Radio: Chris Weidman & Debate About the Greatest of All Time

MMA’s Great Debate Radio is back for Tuesday’s show featuring a special interview with UFC 162 headliner Chris Weidman and all new debate surrounding Anderson Silva’s place as the greatest fighter of all time. Weidman joins the show today to talk about…

MMA‘s Great Debate Radio is back for Tuesday’s show featuring a special interview with UFC 162 headliner Chris Weidman and all new debate surrounding Anderson Silva‘s place as the greatest fighter of all time.

Weidman joins the show today to talk about all the facets of his upcoming bout against Silva on July 6 in Las Vegas.

Why is he so confident that he can beat Silva?

What did he learn from Chael Sonnen that he will use against Silva?  How is Weidman different from Sonnen?

All of these questions will be answered during Weidman‘s appearance on the show.

Also, the debate heats up surrounding the UFC 162 main event on today’s show including topics about Silva’s spot as the best fighter in MMA history.

Today’s topics include:

—What should the criteria be to decide who is the greatest fighter of all time?

—Can you make a case for someone other than Anderson Silva as the greatest of all time in MMA history?

—How much pre-fight talk about Chris Weidman from other fighters do you believe is reality vs. promotion?

—Is Chris Weidman truly Anderson Silva’s toughest challenge?

This is MMA’s Great Debate Radio for Tuesday, June 25, 2013

(If the embeddable player doesn’t work please click HERE.  Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or listen on Stitcher Radio)

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How Would an Anderson Silva Loss to Chris Weidman Affect the UFC?

UFC president Dana White reminds the media quite often that despite Anderson Silva’s extraordinary success, “The Spider” doesn’t represent the company’s most prolific pay-per-view draw.According to White, that distinction belongs to Georges St-Pie…

UFC president Dana White reminds the media quite often that despite Anderson Silva‘s extraordinary success, “The Spider” doesn’t represent the company’s most prolific pay-per-view draw.

According to White, that distinction belongs to Georges St-Pierre, the longtime welterweight champ who fought in the co-main event of UFC 100, a monumental bout in 2009 that set a record for pay-per-view buys (1.6 million).

But just because St-Pierre’s the organization’s crown jewel doesn’t mean that White doesn’t have a vested interest in seeing Silva get past underdog Chris Weidman at UFC 162.

After all, which superfights would the UFC look to arrange in 2014 if Weidman, deemed a 2.5-to-1 underdog (+215) by Bovada.com against Silva (-275), would happen to upset the longtime middleweight champ at UFC 162?

White has talked for years about facilitating a bout between St-Pierre and Silva, but the diabolical company president seems even more intrigued by a possible bout between Silva and the company’s most dominant light heavyweight champ of all time, Jon Jones.

Following Jones’ win over Chael Sonnen at UFC 159, White made an ambiguous remark about a phone conversation he had with Silva that revolved around a potential superfight, assumingly with Jones. 

Less than a month later, White told CBS Atlanta that a Silva vs. Jones superfight could be on the horizon but only if The Spider dispatches of “The All-American” on July 6. 

Silva has a fight coming up on July 6, (and) he’s fighting Chris Weidman. Many people think this is a very serious threat to his record and his title and everything else. But if he gets past this test with Weidman, we could see this superfight (with Jones) this year.

Many experts believe Weidman, a former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler, possesses the variables needed to dethrone Silva, who will amazingly aim to defend his belt for the 11th straight time.

If he does happen to pull off the unthinkable, the 29-year-old Weidman would unquestionably squash the notion of a Silva vs. St-Pierre or a Silva vs. Jones superfight for good.

For Weidman, conversely, the Serra-Longo fight team product has already boldly explained his intentions to not only upset the 38-year-old pound-for-pound king but to then grant him a rematch.

During an interview with Bleacher Report’s Trent Reinsmith at the UFC 158 post-fight press scrum, White offered these sentiments regarding Weidman‘s confidence in playing spoiler: 

I spoke to Chris Weidman. He looked me right in the eye and said, ‘I’m telling you, I apologize, but I’m going to f**k up all your superfights, but I’m going to win this fight. I’m going to f**k up all your superfights and be your next champion.

Granted, it’d be just a small consolation prize in comparison to a superfight between Silva and Jones. But White and the UFC’s brass would likely have no choice but to give The Spider a rematch if he suffered his first loss in the UFC to a fighter with just nine pro bouts.

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UFC 162 Preview: Chris Weidman vs. Tom Lawlor Full Fight Video

The UFC will not present its next fight card until July 6. A middleweight title fight between champion Anderson Silva and No. 1 ranked challenger Chris Weidman will headline that event, UFC 162. Weidman is undefeated as a professional, going 9-0 since …

The UFC will not present its next fight card until July 6. A middleweight title fight between champion Anderson Silva and No. 1 ranked challenger Chris Weidman will headline that event, UFC 162.

Weidman is undefeated as a professional, going 9-0 since making his debut with Ring of Combat in February 2009.  Of those nine bouts, six have ended before the expiration of regulation time. Weidman, an All-American wrestler and brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, has three submissions and three knockouts to his name.

Weidman’s UFC record is 5-0 with two decisions, two submissions and one knockout.  His last submission came at UFC 139, where he used a d’arce choke to turn the lights off on Tom Lawlor. 

Entering UFC 139, Weidman was 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the UFC. Weidman’s two previous UFC bouts were as an injury replacement.

His first, a unanimous decision win over Alessio Sakara, came on 11 days notice and saw Weidman entering the Octagon with a broken rib.

His second bout with the promotion was as a replacement for an injured Court McGee. In that fight, Weidman earned “Submission of the Night” honors with a guillotine choke win over Jesse Bongfeldt.

By the time Weidman met Lawlor, he had established a set pattern in his approach to opening his fights, a pattern he also utilized against Lawlor. Weidman’s approach is to utilize strikes to set up takedowns and then transition to side control where he patiently waits for an opening to utilize his submission skills.

This blueprint has been very successful for Weidman, as the attached video and his perfect record can attest.

The question now is will Weidman present a new look when he meets Silva at the MGM Grand on July 6, or will he rely on the skills that earned him a title shot?  

How Weidman answers that question may determine if he has a shot at upsetting Silva or becoming another statistic in the record setting run of the middleweight champ.

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Roger Gracie: ‘Chris Weidman Can Submit Any World-Class Grappler, Even Me’

Roger Gracie is one of the most accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners in the world, but even he would have his work cut out for him against Chris Weidman.As a 10-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and two-time ADCC gold medalist, Gracie’s…

Roger Gracie is one of the most accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners in the world, but even he would have his work cut out for him against Chris Weidman.

As a 10-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and two-time ADCC gold medalist, Gracie’s opinion is highly respected and valued in the MMA community, which is why his most recent comments regarding Weidman managed to steal headlines Sunday.

During an interview with Brett Okamoto of ESPN.com, he was asked to give a prediction on the upcoming UFC middleweight title bout between Weidman and Anderson Silva. Despite siding with the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Gracie was admittedly blown away by Weidman‘s grappling skills:

I think [Weidman] is very, very dangerous. His grappling is at a very high level. He can submit any world-class grappler. I think he’s really that good. He can tap anyone, even me. It’s just a matter of if he can put Anderson in those situations. I would still put my money on Anderson but I think Chris Weidman is dangerous and can surprise him.

Skeptics are bountiful leading up to the championship showdown at UFC 162.

Fans have generally been reluctant to seek greener pastures on the Weidman bandwagon; however, this doesn’t appear to be the case with most pros. World-class fighters like Gracie have continuously come forward and delivered gushing diatribes regarding Weidman‘s astonishing skills.

During a media scrum for UFC 161, UFC President Dana White revealed that every pro fighter he has spoken to believes Weidman will be the man to finally dethrone Silva.

Are they all wrong?

Silva has achieved every accolade possible in his UFC career and will likely go down as the greatest fighter in MMA history. Meanwhile, Weidman is still a fresh face in the sport.

There is something to be said about such a young fighter generating this much hype from his peers. Whether you’re a believer or a skeptic, we can all pretty much agree on one thing.

July 6 cannot get here soon enough.

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