Tag: Luke Rockhold

UFC Confirms Opponent For Luke Rockhold’s First UFC Middleweight Title Defense

.@katienolan with another scoop! @LukeRockhold will rematch @ChrisWeidmanUFC in June #GTLive https://t.co/FPRrmAP9og— Garbage Time (@GarbageTime) February 3, 2016

In addition to announcing that the Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones rematch is exp…

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In addition to announcing that the Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones rematch is expected to take place in April and revealing that November is when Ronda Rousey will likely challenge for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Title against the winner of the Holly Holm vs. Miesha Tate fight in March, Dana White confirmed who will get the first shot at new UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold this year.

The UFC President appeared on FOX Sports 1’s “Garbage Time” on Wednesday and officially announced Luke Rockhold vs. Chris Weidman II will take place in June.

As seen in the clip embedded above, White spoke with FS1’s Katie Nolan and broke the story during his appearance on the show.

Rockhold defeated Weidman to become UFC’s new 185-pound champion in the co-main event of UFC 194 in December of 2015. His rematch against Weidman in June will be his first chance to prove he is the legitimate king of the UFC Middleweight division.

While White announced that the Rockhold-Weidman rematch is expected to take place at UFC 199 in June, there is currently no word regarding the exact date or venue UFC is targeting for the event.

Luke Rockhold Set To Rematch Chris Weidman At UFC 199

Despite recently expressing interest in a potential fight with all-time great Anderson Silva, UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will indeed make the first defense of his title in a rematch against Chris Weidman. UFC President Dana White broke the news earlier today (February 3, 2016) on Garbage Time with Katie Nolan, saying that the two

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Despite recently expressing interest in a potential fight with all-time great Anderson Silva, UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will indeed make the first defense of his title in a rematch against Chris Weidman.

UFC President Dana White broke the news earlier today (February 3, 2016) on Garbage Time with Katie Nolan, saying that the two will square off at UFC 199 at June:

Rockhold originally took on Weidman last December at UFC 194 in Las Vegas with Weidman’s then held middleweight strap hanging in the balance.

After a semi-close opening two rounds, the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) product would soon take over after an ill-advised Weidman spinning kick attempt. Leaving the New York native stumbling back to his corner after round three, Rockhold would come out in the fourth and finish off the job, stealing the title in the process.

In the aftermath of the bout, it appeared as if Yoel Romero would be next in line, but Rockhold was interested in a rematch with bitter rival Vitor Belfort.

With Romero failing a drug test, and Belfort being matched up with Ronald “Jacare” Souza, Weidman seemed to be the logical option for Rockhold.

Do you see the rematch playing out differently, or will the champion make the first defense of his title?

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Luke Rockhold Has Proved Himself, Eyes Bout With Anderson Silva

It’s now been just under two months since former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold took out Chris Weidman via fourth round stoppage at December 12, 2015’s UFC 194 to become the undisputed UFC champion, but he’s still without an opponent for his first defense. All signs have been pointing towards a potential rematch with Weidman

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It’s now been just under two months since former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold took out Chris Weidman via fourth round stoppage at December 12, 2015’s UFC 194 to become the undisputed UFC champion, but he’s still without an opponent for his first defense.

All signs have been pointing towards a potential rematch with Weidman as of late, or perhaps a showdown with the winner of May’s Ronaldo Souza vs. Vitor Belfort bout would make sense.

While those are logical options, the American Kickboxing Academy product also has another name in mind, and a rather large one: legendary former 185-pound king Anderson “The Spider” Silva.

Rockhold recently claimed that it’s a fight he’s always been interested in, and now that he’s at the top of the mountain, he feels as if it’s a perfect time to make it happen:

“I’m very interested in that fight. That’s a fight I’ve wanted for a very long time,” Rockhold told FOX Sports about the possibility of facing Silva. “We were both reigning champions in the top two organizations. I had my sights set on it, they didn’t give it to me, they didn’t think I had earned or was worthy of it. I’ve proven myself now.

“Now we’ve got Anderson Silva asking for that fight. That’s what I’m all about.”

After suffering back to back losses and a broken leg to Weidman in 2013, “The Spider” returned in January 2015 to take on Nick Diaz, a bout he would come out victorious in after scoring a unanimous decision victory.

The decision was later changed, however, when Silva tested positive for multiple performance-enhancing-drugs, leading the Nevada State Athletic Commission to hand him a one year suspension.

Now free to compete, Silva is slated to take on long-time divisional mainstay Michael Bisping later this month at UFC Fight Night 84. With no clear contender in line, the winner of this bout could very well find himself gearing up for a shot at gold.

With that being said, Rockhold is confident nonetheless. No matter who the opponent is, the champion aims to dominate and force his opposition to fear him:

“These guys think they have a chance and I’m going to go out there a better fighter every time and make them not want that opportunity,” Rockhold said. “That’s what I want every time I go out there, I want guys to not even think about getting in there with me.

“I didn’t have my best performance last time so next time out, I’m going to make people fear me.”

Who would you like to see Rockhold take on next?

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Chris Weidman: I Was At 10-20 Percent For Luke Rockhold

It was a very rough night for the now ex-UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, and perhaps others noticed he looked visibly smaller… The UFC middleweight title fight between Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold at UFC 194 proved to be a very hard fight to choose between. It was literally a toss of a coin, as

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It was a very rough night for the now ex-UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, and perhaps others noticed he looked visibly smaller…

The UFC middleweight title fight between Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold at UFC 194 proved to be a very hard fight to choose between. It was literally a toss of a coin, as both had all the tools required to beat their opponent’s respective style. On fight night though, it was ‘Rocky’ who emerged as the king of the 185-pounders with a gritty and brutal TKO stoppage of ‘The All-American.’

Perhaps due to the IV ban, Weidman was looking a lot smaller than Rockhold at 185 pounds, and was manhandled for the latter parts of their clash. Not only was it the belt that Weidman lost, but also the 0 on his record as the new champ erased his unbeaten record. One thing has played in Weidman’s favor in the time since, and that’s the number one contender Yoel Romero, who had just topped fellow top ranker Jacare Souza, getting allegedly popped for steroids. Weidman

With ‘Soldier of God’ out of the picture, all of a sudden people were talking about a championship rematch. Talking with AXS TV, Weidman reveals why he performed under his usual standards against Rockhold:

“It wasn’t my night, it was his night and he deserved to win that fight,” Weidman told AXS TV. “He’s a guy I’m very capable of just completely running through. I was at maybe 10 to 20 percent of me and I was still kicking his ass for a while in there. I wasn’t where I should have been at mentally and physically, I’ll just put it at that.

“I don’t like to make excuses. Listen, I’ll just say this: It was the worst camp I ever had. A lot of things were going on. But what I felt in there was a weak guy [in Rockhold] who was ready to break before it all went downhill for me with that spinning back kick.”

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It was certainly odd to see the normally dominant wrestler Weidman getting tossed around, even though it was th AKA beast ‘Rocky’ doing the tossing.

Do you think there was some undisclosed injury, or is Weidman just covering a crappy performance?

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Chris Weidman Wants Rematch With Luke Rockhold In May Or June

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman continues to protest for a rematch with Luke Rockhold after he lost to Rockhold at UFC 194. Weidman recently spoke out about the devastating loss and stated that he is eyeing a rematch with Rockhold as soon as he can get it. Weidman told “UFC Tonight” that since Yoel

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Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman continues to protest for a rematch with Luke Rockhold after he lost to Rockhold at UFC 194. Weidman recently spoke out about the devastating loss and stated that he is eyeing a rematch with Rockhold as soon as he can get it.

Weidman told “UFC Tonight” that since Yoel Romero is out of title contention if he is found guilty of testing positive for weed and that Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is set to face Vitor Belfort at an upcoming Fight Night event, then he should get the first shot at Rockhold. All those names listed above are those who are in title contention, but since they’re all booked it would make sense for Weidman to get his rematch.

Weidman is “hoping” and “expecting” a rematch with Rockhold and said that he could be ready by May or June to fight. If it’s possible, then he would fight Rockhold at UFC 199, which does not have a clear-cut main event yet.

Weidman has said in interviews before UFC 194 that he was hoping to fight on the UFC 200 card in July. Following UFC 194, Rockhold told FOX Sports that he is willing to give Weidman a rematch due to the top title contenders are busy.

The UFC has not confirmed this rematch nor have they announced Rockhold’s opponent for his first title defense so it’s possible that the two will fight again in the near future.

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Vitor Belfort vs. Jacare Souza Set For May 14 In Brazil

According to a report from Combate’s Ana Hissa which has now been confirmed by the promotion, the UFC has scheduled a pivotal middleweight bout, as No. 2-ranked Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza will meet controversial former champion Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort on May 14, 2016 in Brazil. BREAKING! @JacareMMA & @VitorBelfort to headline May 14th card in

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According to a report from Combate’s Ana Hissa which has now been confirmed by the promotion, the UFC has scheduled a pivotal middleweight bout, as No. 2-ranked Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza will meet controversial former champion Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort on May 14, 2016 in Brazil.

A venue has not yet been determined.

Souza is coming off of a somewhat controversial decision loss to Yoel “The Solider of God” Romero at December 12’s UFC 194, a bout in which Romero tested positive for performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) afterwards.

Prior to this loss, the Brazilian submission ace had compiled eight straight victories including an impressive seven finishes.

Belfort on the other hand, recently bounced back from a failed bid at the title with a devastating knockout over ageing contender Dan Henderson last November.

The pairing of these two Brazilian contenders definitely has an interesting effect on the middleweight title picture.

The winner of Souza vs. Romero was likely in line for a shot, but that will obviously not be the case due to “The Soldier of God’s” drug test failure.

Newly minted champion Luke Rockhold had expressed extreme interest in a rematch with bitter rival Belfort, but we now know that that will also not be next up.

That leaves a potential rematch between Rockhold and former boss Chris Weidman, who “Rocky” beat at UFC 194, or a clash between the champion and the winner of February’s Anderson Silva vs. Michael Bisping scrap.

What do you make of the current state of the 185 pound division?

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