Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman has been calling for the next shot against current titleholder Robert Whittaker. According to the 34-year-old Serra-Longo representative, being the “most decorated guy in the division” puts him in front of the line of current contenders.
The number three-ranked Weidman already foresees how a possible fight against Whittaker would end, since he feels that “Bobby Knuckles” actually matches up well with him.
“Obviously for me, that would be best-case scenario is to fight for the title, to fight Whittaker,” Weidman said on a recent episode of The MMA Hour (via MMA Fighting). “I feel like that’s a guy I match up really well against. It’s a guy, I’d go out there and I believe I could finish.”
Weidman sees Whittaker’s overall style as being more Karate-oriented, which for him would be perfect having Stephen Thompson on his side.
“(Whittaker’s) very tough, he’s elusive, got kind of like a karate-style background. But I have great training partners,” Weidman said. “I have ‘Wonderboy,’ who actually knocked him out. He’s a family member of mine and just based on that it gives me extra motivation not to lose to him when I’ve got my brother-in-law who knocked him out.”
“How am I going to go to family functions if I go out there and lose to him? It’s definitely something that would play as motivation and give me confidence going into the fight.”
“But he’s a tough guy, he’s hard to hold down. I just feel like between my striking and the way I transition into wrestling and my grappling and my jiu-jitsu, I just feel like I’m too well-rounded for him. It doesn’t matter how tough the guy is.”
Weidman last stepped inside the Octagon in July 2017, where he broke a three-fight skid by defeating Kelvin Gastelum via third-round submission. He is currently healing from a hand injury and has yet to determine his next fight date.
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