And Anderson Silva is a nightmare matchup for you, Mr. Weidman. I understand the need to ‘sell the fight,’ but what happens if Anderson comes out and destroys Chris Weidman? What then? Is Anderson that good or will the entire fandom of the UFC start to feel like the UFC marketing is constantly lying to them. Therein lies the rub of combat sports: selling the dude who is supposed to kill the king as a killer, when we don’t really know if he is. I mean, I like Chris Weidman, he’s a decent fighter, but his biggest win was over a rusty Mark Munoz over a year ago. So now you come into the Octagon with a year of ring rust fighting the greatest ever.
But anyone can go down. This happens. We’ve seen Fedor lose, and one day we will see Anderson lose again, but not July 6th in Las Vegas. No matter what Chris Weidman thinks:
“I’ve seen what Chael has done to him,” Weidman said. “I’ve seen his weaknesses, and I think I can expose him again and look for a finish or a good performance. You’ve just got be confident. 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? I’m going to make sure I do.”
“I think the best thing that Anderson Silva does is mentally destroy people before they even get in the cage with him, and then once you get in the cage with him, he does a great job of making you feel like, ‘You do not belong in the cage with me. You’re terrible. I’m the man. You’re going to find a way out of this fight.’ I think the biggest thing is that I’m very confident. I know my skill set.”
“On paper, I’m a nightmare matchup for Anderson, on paper you can’t deny it. I definitely have better wrestling, and I believe I’ve proven I have better jiu-jitsu. I think I have the cardio and the athleticism. I think there’s a lot of stuff that’s siding with me in this fight.”
I’m not sure how Weidman has proved he has the better jiu jitsu, but he’s right, he needs to be strong mentally, otherwise why even step in the cage. But then again, to be overconfident against Anderson could be the worst mistake Weidman’s ever made outside of stepping into said cage. Let’s be honest, Weidman likes saying on paper he’s the best matchup, well on paper, you’re fighting Anderson SIlva. I rest my case.
