Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold have been rivals for quite some time in the middleweight division.
Now, both have moved up to light heavyweight where Weidman is set for his fight against Dominick Reyes later this year. Rockhold, meanwhile, took on Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239 where he suffered a knockout loss. For Weidman, to see Rockhold get knocked out like that was bittersweet.
“To be honest it was a little bittersweet,” Weidman said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show (via MMA Junkie). “I never like to see anybody get hurt even though me and Luke have had a lot of issues back and forth for a long time, and that’s the one guy I really wanted to get a fight with him and get that one back. Your first loss always seems to hit home the most, so that’s the one I wanted back.
“It’s kind of bittersweet to see him go out there (because) I didn’t think he looked good,” Weidman said. “I thought he was slow, tired. And to see him get knocked out like that again, he’s been off for so long already. I was supposed to fight him back in November and he pulled out and then he was off until just recently so I don’t know what’s up for him next but one part of me is like, ‘I want to be the guy that’s in there with him,’ but now the other part of me is like, ‘I don’t know if he’s going to be around much longer and whether he’s going to retire or not.’”
Weidman is hoping for a better result than Rockhold faced, but doesn’t rule out them fighting each other.
