Chris Weidman has never been more certain that he is the man to defeat reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
For about a year now, former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman has argued that if he were to get a crack at Israel Adesanya, the “former” attached to his middleweight championship résumé would be replaced with “two-time.” That is because the All-American is convinced that he is a horrible stylistic matchup for current champ Israel Adesanya. And if he did have any doubts about that, they were put to rest during the main event of UFC 259 that saw Adesanya lose to light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz.
“Seeing that fight, seeing how a strong guy was able to outgrapple him and get the takedowns, it definitely reaffirmed the thoughts that I had on that fight,” Weidman said during a UFC 261 media scrum. “That being said, I got some work to do. I got Uriah Hall. I don’t expect to be fighting Adesanya next. I do know I’m a bad matchup for him. I think it’s a fight that, when I’m able to prove it to everybody, people are gonna want to see.”
Tomorrow night at UFC 261, Chris Weidman will be back on the main card when he takes on the aforementioned Uriah Hall. Both UFC veterans are ranked at the moment, so a win here would be a significant step towards a title shot. If Weidman is able to string enough wins together to come face to face with the champion, he has a specific picture in his mind of how the fight would play out.
“Adesanya, I’ve seen even before the Blachowicz fight, I’ve seen that he’s a guy that I just match up really well against, and I know I can get to him,” Weidman explained. “Even on the feet. He does a great job with his range. He’s got great feints. I’m a fan of him on the feet. I watch a lot of the stuff he does, and I emulate him myself in the gym. But that being said, I close the distance on him, I get my hands on him, we’re just two different levels of human beings in those situations.”
We’ll see if Weidman draws closer to having this vision become a reality by first defeating Uriah Hall tomorrow night at UFC 261.
Do you think Chris Weidmam is a bad stylistic matchup for Israel Adesanya?
