Chris Weidman explains that he’s been training for Anderson Silva since he started in MMA, knows Anderson’s weaknesses.

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Everyone eventually loses. Michael Jordan went out on the perfect, last second shot, only to mar it with another comeback and a few underwhelming seasons with the Wizards. Ali lost his last two fights. Look at Chuck Liddell, BJ Penn, Fedor and on and on and on — the sport will eventually pass you by, no man is immortal.

Anderson Silva might be.

Sure, Chris Weidman has every tool needed to beat Anderson, but the irony is not lost on me when he says he’s been training for Silva for his entire career, while his entire career isn’t even as long as Anderson’s title reign. Two months from now we will see if the greatest champion this sport has ever seen will fall to the hands of Weidman, and until then, we can expect plenty of this kind of talk from Weidman, I.E. the same confidence he’s been spouting for almost a year after his knockout of Mark Munoz.

“When I started MMA about four years ago, (Silva) was the champion at 185. When I made the decision to go to 185, I had to believe I could beat the champion of the world or there’s no reason for me to do this. So from the get-go, no matter who I was fighting coming out of Ring of Combat at the Tropicana in Atlantic City, I wasn’t only training to beat those guys who I was paired up against, I was training already at that point to beat Anderson Silva and become the best in the world. Now I’ve finally earned the opportunity to get that and I’m not going to let it slip through my fingers … I think I’ve got my dream match-up right here on July 6. I really think I do. I think the best thing Anderson Silva does is mentally destroy people before they even get in the cage with him. Once you get in the cage with him, he does a great job of making you feel like you do not belong in this cage with me. You’re terrible, I’m the man, you’re going to find a way out of out of this fight. I think the biggest thing is just – I’m very confident.

I know my skillset, I’ve seen what Chael Sonnen has done to him, I’ve seen his weaknesses and I think I can expose them again and look for a finish or a good performance. You’ve just got to be confident. And you can say anything you want before the fight, but it’s all about when you touch those gloves, do you still have the confidence and I’m going to make sure I do. It’s all mental … On paper, I’m a nightmare match-up for Anderson. You know, on paper you can’t deny it. I definitely have better wrestling and I definitely believe I have proven I have better jiu-jtsu. I think I have the cardio, the athleticism, I think there’s a lot of stuff that’s siding with me on this fight.”

Could we be seeing the difference in Weidman and Chael unfolding before our very eyes? Pure confidence, tempered trash talk and a skill set that lends itself to finishing rather than grinding out a decision?