Chris Weidman Believes Win Over 'Cheat' Yoel Romero Earns Title Shot
Chris Weidman Believes Win Over 'Cheat' Yoel Romero Earns Title Shot
Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman feels win over Yoel Romero puts him back in title picture
It may have gone down to the wire, but Chris Weidman will rightfully take his place on and fight at UFC’s first ever show in Madison Square Garden at UFC 205 in New York City on Nov. 12.
Weidman will face the No. 4 ranked middleweight in the world Yoel Romero; a man currently riding a seven-fight winning streak. Romero will come into the bout with a number of high-profile victories on his record against the likes of Jacare Souza, Tim Kennedy and Lyoto Machida. Weidman knows he's in for a tough night of work on November 12, but he already knows what game plan he will be taking into the Octagon.
“I see a very talented and explosive wrestler who’s done well in the standup knocking people out because he’s got heavy hands” Weidman told Luke Thomas on SiriusXM. “He’s unorthodox and I don’t really think he knows what he is going to throw. It’s always hard to gauge with a guy like that and I just have to be prepared for everything.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/ChrisWeidmanUFC/status/780883605035810816" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
“The goal is to push him and make sure he’s working. I feel like the more he is working the better for me. I’ll push his cardio and use my length and my strength to get the job done.”
Another thing in the back of the Weidman's head at UFC 205 will be all the controversies surrounding Romero’s behavior in and outside of the Octagon. While thinking about it may be unavoidable, Weidman said he won’t let something out of his control worry him.
“Tim Kennedy’s thing sucked you know,” Weidman said. “I wouldn’t have wanted that to have happened to me, but going into this fight I can’t control those sort of things. Obviously, you want the guy to do the right thing, but you got rely on the ref to do it.
“[Romero] has obviously failed drug tests, he cheated, he failed a drugs test and he got suspended. As far as the stuff in the cage, it’s really not something I can control so I’m not putting that much thought into it. At the end of the day, the refs will know that he’s been known for these things stoolgate and stuff so that’s it.”
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/ufc/status/780897442103341056" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
With Weidman facing Romero, and Rockhold taking on Jacare, the winner of either fight could be the next man in line to face the UFC middleweight champion. Weidman believes that man should be him based on what he’s done in the last few years.
“I think it does,” Weidman said when asked if beating Romero will earn him a title shot. “Yoel beat Jacare, but he failed a drug test and still won the fight. It’s a weird situation, but I feel like if I beat him I deserve the title shot because of everything I’ve accomplished in the sport.
“I’m coming off my first loss to Luke, but Luke didn’t defend the title once and I defended it three time times. So, I think I would deserve the title shot based on that.”
The former UFC middleweight champion then gave a prediction for the Jacare versus Rockhold fight and said that it would be close, but that he would side with one man due to all the uncertainty surrounding the other.
“I don’t know, I think it’s going to be a tough fight,” Weidman said. “I think we are definitely going to see a more confident striker in Jacare than he was in the first fight together. After seeing Rockhold get knocked out—Jacare hurt Luke in that first fight a couple of times on the feet and he was at the time much more of a jiu-jitsu guy than anything. This time, I think he will be a more well-rounded martial artist and I think he’s going to be looking more for knockout, but that could open him up to another takedown or two.
“I think I’m going to give the edge to Jacare in this one. I just think given the circumstances, with Rockhold coming off his loss there is a lot up in the air.”
Weidman will face the No. 4 ranked middleweight in the world Yoel Romero; a man currently riding a seven-fight winning streak. Romero will come into the bout with a number of high-profile victories on his record against the likes of Jacare Souza, Tim Kennedy and Lyoto Machida. Weidman knows he's in for a tough night of work on November 12, but he already knows what game plan he will be taking into the Octagon.
“I see a very talented and explosive wrestler who’s done well in the standup knocking people out because he’s got heavy hands” Weidman told Luke Thomas on SiriusXM. “He’s unorthodox and I don’t really think he knows what he is going to throw. It’s always hard to gauge with a guy like that and I just have to be prepared for everything.
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/ChrisWeidmanUFC/status/780883605035810816" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
“The goal is to push him and make sure he’s working. I feel like the more he is working the better for me. I’ll push his cardio and use my length and my strength to get the job done.”
Another thing in the back of the Weidman's head at UFC 205 will be all the controversies surrounding Romero’s behavior in and outside of the Octagon. While thinking about it may be unavoidable, Weidman said he won’t let something out of his control worry him.
“Tim Kennedy’s thing sucked you know,” Weidman said. “I wouldn’t have wanted that to have happened to me, but going into this fight I can’t control those sort of things. Obviously, you want the guy to do the right thing, but you got rely on the ref to do it.
“[Romero] has obviously failed drug tests, he cheated, he failed a drugs test and he got suspended. As far as the stuff in the cage, it’s really not something I can control so I’m not putting that much thought into it. At the end of the day, the refs will know that he’s been known for these things stoolgate and stuff so that’s it.”
[tweet url="https://twitter.com/ufc/status/780897442103341056" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
With Weidman facing Romero, and Rockhold taking on Jacare, the winner of either fight could be the next man in line to face the UFC middleweight champion. Weidman believes that man should be him based on what he’s done in the last few years.
“I think it does,” Weidman said when asked if beating Romero will earn him a title shot. “Yoel beat Jacare, but he failed a drug test and still won the fight. It’s a weird situation, but I feel like if I beat him I deserve the title shot because of everything I’ve accomplished in the sport.
“I’m coming off my first loss to Luke, but Luke didn’t defend the title once and I defended it three time times. So, I think I would deserve the title shot based on that.”
The former UFC middleweight champion then gave a prediction for the Jacare versus Rockhold fight and said that it would be close, but that he would side with one man due to all the uncertainty surrounding the other.
“I don’t know, I think it’s going to be a tough fight,” Weidman said. “I think we are definitely going to see a more confident striker in Jacare than he was in the first fight together. After seeing Rockhold get knocked out—Jacare hurt Luke in that first fight a couple of times on the feet and he was at the time much more of a jiu-jitsu guy than anything. This time, I think he will be a more well-rounded martial artist and I think he’s going to be looking more for knockout, but that could open him up to another takedown or two.
“I think I’m going to give the edge to Jacare in this one. I just think given the circumstances, with Rockhold coming off his loss there is a lot up in the air.”