Ahead of UFC 238, Chris Weidman announced he was done with middleweight and will be moving up to light heavyweight. The 34-year-old was coming off of a knockout loss to Jacare Souza at UFC 230, which was his fourth loss in his last five fights.
Now, at light heavyweight, Weidman believes he will be much better as he doesn’t have to deplete himself to make weight. And, he will have more power along with his wrestling and ground game. That along the former champ says will be a problem for Jon Jones.
“Honestly I think I bring a lot of problems to the table with my wrestling, my jiu-jitsu,” Chris Weidman said at a media scrum at UFC 238 (h/t BJPenn.com). “Also I’m long, and I have power in my hands — especially at 205, I think that might be a benefit for me. I think I’ll even hit harder.
“I think my wrestling and jiu-jitsu, on paper, is better than his. The way he’s able to mix it up so well on the feet and then trick you with his standup and also look for takedowns, the way he uses his elbows and knees… We haven’t seen a guy do it as well as him. So I give him 100% props. But if I’m able to drag it into what I’m great at, I think I bring a serious problem. And also my pace, my pace is something that I think I really bring to the table. I don’t know if a lot of 205 pounders can hold up to that.”
Ultimately, Weidman will need to win a few fights to get a shot at Jones, but he is prepared to do just that and dethrone Jon Jones.
