We all saw Chris Weidman retain his UFC Middleweight Championship on Saturday night, we all saw Belfort look like the aging fighter he is, and we all raised an eyebrow listening to Weidman’s post fight speech. He mentioned some sort of controversy, or bad blood leading up to the fight that we were all supposed to know about?
He called for the MMA community to join his team, as this was the last invitation we would get. Maybe he was talking about something I missed in the lead up to the fight? He did pretty much what I expected during the fight, which lead my mind to wonder and try to fill in the blanks.
Weidman is one of those figures you hear about from gyms and other fighters. He is a fighter’s fighter. Someone that others who compete or know the game far better than I ever can will give you a knowing wink and a smile telling you they will be the next big thing.
We saw it with Rory Macdonald, we saw it with Cain Velazquez, and a couple of years ago we saw it with Chris Weidman. Granted this was coming from the motor mouth of Matt Serra, and the guys at the Serra-Longo camp so you have to take their word with a grain of salt, and a little Marinara Sauce, but he hasn’t failed to deliver the goods.
With an unbeaten run over some excellent competition leading up to the first Anderson Silva fight, he was a good test for the champ. The UFC told us he is a challenger worthy of the title shot. Whether they believe it or not, it’s their job, but those of us who weren’t buying it would have a rude awakening on the night.
It’s not his achievements which lack prestige, two wins over of the G.O.A.T., a lopsided decision over Lyoto Machida, and the domination of the Phenom. So I ask myself, why does he seem to have this chip on his shoulder? When you look at most of the champions in the UFC they all have an x-factor. It might not be enough to garner them all of the fame and followers that some fighters get, but they all have something to offer.
Velasquez is a heavyweight with the unprecedented cardio of a middleweight, Jon Jones (formally the champ) was the best fighter on the planet, Dos Anjos shocked the world by completely dominating the face of Wheaties, Jose Aldo could cut down a tree with leg kicks and Mighty Mouse is considered the most technical all round fighter known to the sport – not to mention the women’s ranks! So, what does Weidman have?
It’s hard to put your finger on it but there is something lacking. I don’t know whether or not he lacks personality because it usually gets over shadowed by Serra and Longo in his corner. Other than being a pretty conservative Christian patriot there doesn’t seem to be much more to grasp at. Then when you go back and look at his title rein it all seems to make sense.
His dramatic knockout of Anderson Silva, was a shock, but hey, Silva was clowning around, surly he wouldn’t survive a rematch? Who knows, Silva breaks his leg and that’s that. Whether
it was due to a perfectly placed check of Silva’s attempted leg kick is not the point, it was not the exclamation point Weidman needed. His win over Machida was solid, but that’s all it was. There was no explosive finish and he certainly didn’t school Machida in anyway, not like Luke Rockhold did. He wouldn’t even find the pinnacle match up he needed in Belfort either. After all this was the first foray for post TRT Vitor, and we all knew he wouldn’t be the same head kicking lion that seemed to have found the Alicia of youth (granted it came in the form of an injection in his ass)
You need at least one of two things in this sport to have your own gravy train, either a compelling personality, or a skill set that sets you apart for the rest. Unfortunately Weidman has neither, likable but not loveable, he lacks any of the in cage jaw dropping ability that the top draw fighters possess. Is he effective? Absolutely, but he is still searching for that exclamation point fight that will legitimize his position. Fortunately for him with such a stacked division, a fight with either Luke Rockhold or Jacare Souza should do the job!
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