- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
“Stop doubting me, that’s enough, stop doubting me, you better join the team now.”
Those were the words of UFC middleweight champion Chris ‘The All-American’ Weidman after he just successfully defended his title for a third time via TKO in the first round over Brazilian legend Vitor ‘The Phenom’ Belfort (24-11).
Chris Weidman has an extensive wrestling background, and was only training in mixed martial arts for three years before he took on Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva (34-6) for the middleweight belt.
After Weidman scored himself a knockout win over the now-retired ‘Filipino Wrecking Machine’ Mark Muñoz (14-6), many were sceptical over the UFC president Dana White’s decision to give the All-American a shot at then-champion Silva.
Then in July of 2013, at UFC 162, the impossible happened, and Joe Rogan could only describe what happened one way.
“Chris Weidman just knocked Anderson Silva out cold.”
Weidman became the champion, but there weren’t many who believed in his claim to the throne. Silva had been clowning around, putting his hands down and leaving his chin for the taking when he got caught with a vicious left hook.
White called for an immediate rematch, and many were left pondering the question, what would happen if Silva fought properly?
The rematch was set for December 2013 at UFC 168, and was dubbed as the biggest rematch in UFC history.
The time came for Weidman and Silva to lock horns for a second time, and Weidman completely dominated the first round.
Then in Round 2, the impossible happened again. Weidman checked a hard leg-kick from Silva, which resulted in the Spider suffering one of the most horrific leg breaks in the history of sport.
Despite dominating the first round, the end result caused many fight fans to still question the Weidman’s legitimacy.
It would be over seven months before Weidman defended his belt again, taking on Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida (22-6) at UFC 175. The Dragon was the former light heavyweight champion, and was on an absolute tear since moving down to middleweight. He was the man that fight fans picked to dethrone Weidman.
For Weidman, it was a chance to legitimise himself as the best 185-pound fighter in the world.
It was a five-round war which was mostly dominated by the champion, and in the end Weidman successfully defended his belt for the second time against one of the most established and respected fighters in world. However, it was not enough for fight fans.
Vitor Belfort was coming off three straight wins, all which he won via head kick knockout.
Belfort is one of the most explosive fighters in the UFC, and after Weidman was forced out of the title defence some fans believed he was ducking the Phenom.
There came a time where the fight seemed like it was finally happening, UFC 187 earlier this month. Despite Weidman being a four-to-one favourite, many fans were picking (and hoping) that Belfort would take the All-American’s head off in typical Belfort fashion.
Despite Belfort pouring it on early, Weidman took the Phenom down, mounted him and beat him up for a destructive first-round TKO win.
Like him or not, Weidman has proved himself to the best middleweight in the world, and he did it in record time over elite competition.
After his win over Belfort, White compared Weidman’s streak to that of former light heavyweight kingpin Jon ‘Bones’ Jones (21-1).
“He’s on a Jon Jones-type run right now in the 185-pound division,” White told UFC.com
“The thing with Jon is that he went four years taking out all the best 205-pounders in the world.
“Weidman is beating straight killers right now.”
There are still many challenges ahead for the All-American, the likes of Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza (22-3, 1NC) and Luke Rockhold (14-2) loom. However it’s hard to see anyone who can pry the middleweight belt out of the All-American’s hands.
Weidman has proved himself to be the true champion, and it’s about time the fans joined the team.
Let’s get ready to rumble! Pick a fighter and place your bets with PlayUp for great odds. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.