According to Chris Weidman, there’s a chance he won’t be defending his middleweight strap against #1 ranked contender Luke Rockhold, despite Dana White confirming the bout earlier this month. Rockhold crushed Lyoto Machida at UFC on FOX 15 in April and stole the limelight from #2 ranked contender Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza in the main event.
The middleweight champion revealed rumors of a number one contendership bout between Rockhold and Souza instead of the originally planned Weidman/Rockhold fight:
“I don’t know when I’m fighting next,” Weidman revealed to MMAmania.com. “There are rumors that he [Rockhold] might be fighting for a number one contendership against Jacare [Souza] next.”
Luke Rockhold and Jacare Souza previously fought for the Strikeforce middleweight championship in 2011 which saw Rockhold dethrone the Brazilian in the main event.
It’s not just Souza and Rockhold gunning for the belt, Cuban standout Yoel Romero surged through the 185 lbs. rankings after knocking out Lyoto Machida on Saturday evening at UFC Fight Night 70. Romero’s win over Machida catapulted him to the #3 spot in the middleweight division, trailing directly behind Jacare and Rockhold.
Romero’s beating of Machida was so pronounced that Chris Weidman felt bad for the Brazilian:
“I think Yoel Romero is great,” Weidman said. “It was a great finish for him. I just think it’s crazy that Machida took that fight on such short notice after losing his last fight by knockout. It was 10 weeks after his fight, in a small cage, against a wrestler. There was a lot against him. I feel bad.”
Check out the full interview with MMAMania here.
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