Ray Longo Says Yoel Romero Showed Lack of Respect for the Rules
Ray Longo Says Yoel Romero Showed Lack of Respect for the Rules
Longtime coach Ray Longo weighs in on Chris Weidman and the former champions future.
It’s been nearly two weeks now since UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden, but the ramifications are still being felt up and down the UFC roster.
One of the fights with future title fight implications was of course the middleweight bout where Yoel Romero scored a stunning third round flying knee knockout over Chris Weidman.
While Romero is rightfully basking in the glory, his opponent that evening Chris Weidman is still licking his wounds and so it seems are his team at Serra-Longo.
Speaking on the UFC Unfiltered podcast this week, Weidman’s coach Ray Longo discussed the fight with host Jim Norton and fellow coach Matt Serra and they started with how Weidman was doing after the loss.
“Physically he’s fine, they didn’t even send him for a CAT scan,” Longo said. “He was ok in the back, he passed all the neurological tests, but yeah, he’s definitely bummed out and I thought he was doing great. He made some improvements on the stuff we were working on, but I think like Matt says, when you zig when you should of zagged that’s what happens.
[instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BMsG2kkh5HP/" hide_caption="0"]
“He will pick himself up and we will get him back in there for the next fight. It was tough. [Romero] is a super explosive dude man and you know. We knew he had the knee as a weapon and it just didn’t work out.”
Longo then gave his point of view on Romero seeming stalling the beginning of round two by throwing water over himself and revealed how he’d warned the referee Mario Yamasaki before the fight he’d look for these advantages.
“He was pouring water on his own head,” Longo said. “Again, I don’t want to bring that up because it is what it is—it sounds like sour grapes. Put it this way, in the back we were told Yamasaki that he’s going to look for time, that he’s done it before and Yamasaki was right with us.
[instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BMw3EifBZT4/" hide_caption="0"]
“But there you go, they pan over to him in the corner and he’s pouring water over his own head. He took the bottle and he just started dumping water over his own head so that they had to come in, clean up the water. You know what, when you are at that level, 10-20 seconds can make a big difference.”
As you can imagine, Longo said he wasn’t best impressed by the Cuban’s actions and said that he should’ve been penalized a point for it.
“Well I think only because they warned him about it before the fight and he still did it,” Longo said. “I think it’s a lack of respect for what he’s being told and he’s blatantly just not followed the rules. They could’ve done something, but you know, I think it would’ve been the first time.”
Jim Norton then asked Longo what he expected Weidman’s next move to be.
“If I had my way I’d give him someone that, well he’s coming off two losses, so maybe someone in the same category,” Longo said. “The UFC works a little differently though and Chris likes to challenge himself so I’m going to say I’d rather see him with a lesser opponent, but he’s probably going to give him a tough spot.
“I don’t know yet, but Mousasi is coming up, I don’t know if the fight makes sense for Mousasi. He’s winning and he’s looking for a title shot. Normally they match another guy coming off a loss with another guy coming off a loss, but they’ve switched that around.”
One of the fights with future title fight implications was of course the middleweight bout where Yoel Romero scored a stunning third round flying knee knockout over Chris Weidman.
Weidman update
While Romero is rightfully basking in the glory, his opponent that evening Chris Weidman is still licking his wounds and so it seems are his team at Serra-Longo.
Speaking on the UFC Unfiltered podcast this week, Weidman’s coach Ray Longo discussed the fight with host Jim Norton and fellow coach Matt Serra and they started with how Weidman was doing after the loss.
“Physically he’s fine, they didn’t even send him for a CAT scan,” Longo said. “He was ok in the back, he passed all the neurological tests, but yeah, he’s definitely bummed out and I thought he was doing great. He made some improvements on the stuff we were working on, but I think like Matt says, when you zig when you should of zagged that’s what happens.
[instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BMsG2kkh5HP/" hide_caption="0"]
“He will pick himself up and we will get him back in there for the next fight. It was tough. [Romero] is a super explosive dude man and you know. We knew he had the knee as a weapon and it just didn’t work out.”
His thoughts on Romero
Longo then gave his point of view on Romero seeming stalling the beginning of round two by throwing water over himself and revealed how he’d warned the referee Mario Yamasaki before the fight he’d look for these advantages.
“He was pouring water on his own head,” Longo said. “Again, I don’t want to bring that up because it is what it is—it sounds like sour grapes. Put it this way, in the back we were told Yamasaki that he’s going to look for time, that he’s done it before and Yamasaki was right with us.
[instagram url="https://www.instagram.com/p/BMw3EifBZT4/" hide_caption="0"]
“But there you go, they pan over to him in the corner and he’s pouring water over his own head. He took the bottle and he just started dumping water over his own head so that they had to come in, clean up the water. You know what, when you are at that level, 10-20 seconds can make a big difference.”
Romero disrespecting the sport
As you can imagine, Longo said he wasn’t best impressed by the Cuban’s actions and said that he should’ve been penalized a point for it.
“Well I think only because they warned him about it before the fight and he still did it,” Longo said. “I think it’s a lack of respect for what he’s being told and he’s blatantly just not followed the rules. They could’ve done something, but you know, I think it would’ve been the first time.”
Weidman’s next move
Jim Norton then asked Longo what he expected Weidman’s next move to be.
“If I had my way I’d give him someone that, well he’s coming off two losses, so maybe someone in the same category,” Longo said. “The UFC works a little differently though and Chris likes to challenge himself so I’m going to say I’d rather see him with a lesser opponent, but he’s probably going to give him a tough spot.
“I don’t know yet, but Mousasi is coming up, I don’t know if the fight makes sense for Mousasi. He’s winning and he’s looking for a title shot. Normally they match another guy coming off a loss with another guy coming off a loss, but they’ve switched that around.”