Fresh from his UFC 205 defeat at the hands of Yoel Romero, Chris Weidman – accompanied by Stephen Thompson – spoke to the media backstage at Madison Square Garden.
Weidman, whose record fell to 13-2 after the stunning KO loss, was asked if Romero – who recently served a six month ban imposed by USADA for a failed drugs test – deserved to now challenge UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping for the belt.
Submission Radio were on the ground to capture the former champion’s answer.
“He just put in a good performance against me,” said Weidman, hinting that Romero had done enough to earn the shot.
However, Weidman did expose some doubts over whether Romero, or any fighter who had been banned for PEDs, should still be allowed to compete.
“I just feel like they shouldn’t be fighting anymore,” opined Weidman, siding with views previously expressed by Bisping. “A lot of guys I fought in the past have failed for steroids, a good majority of my last six fights.”
Weidman also admitted to becoming frustrated during the Romero fight, due to ‘antics’ from the Cuban Olympian. This was despite being warned not to do so.
“Many people told me before the fight, don’t get frustrated with any antics that might happen,” revealed Weidman. “I know my coaches told the ref and the commission before the fight about ice on the floor and putting too much water on him and [that] they take time getting it off him. It happened twice, I got a little frustrated, even though I should of not got frustrated.”
Although Weidman didn’t get the result he wanted at UFC 205, he was happy for the experience – as a whole.
“Dude, it was a dream come true, it was everything I imagined… until I lost.” Weidman, a Long Island native, was especially thrilled during his walkout, into an arena he had long hoped to compete in.
“I’ve had so many ups and downs in this sport and so many times where I thought it was gonna get legalized, and I imagined fighting here in New York, and for it to finally happen, and to have a crowd like that and that type of support, after traveling around the world and fighting everywhere else beside my home state, it was a dream come true walking out.”
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