Jacksonville, FL — Chris Weidman believes he sees a blueprint on beating Israel Adesanya in the middleweight champ’s fight with Jan Blacowicz last month.
“Seeing that fight, seeing how a strong guy was able to out-grapple him and get the takedowns, it definitely reaffirmed the thoughts I had on that fight,” Weidman stated during the UFC 261 media day this week. “That being said, I’ve got some work to do.”
That work would come in the form of Uriah Hall, Weidman’s UFC 261 dance partner. It’s a rematch of a fight that first took place over a decade ago, outside the confines of the UFC. Weidman served up the first loss of Hall’s career that night, with the wrestler surprising many by getting it done on the feet.
Weidman would love to put Hall in a similar position in the rematch. “If you watch that last fight — I would love to just hit him with the right to the left hook and drop him. It was a pretty flawless fight on my behalf. If I could do that, that’d be great,” he said. And the possibility is there, with Weidman seeing the rematch as a similar fight.
“I think it’s a similar fight in that, back then, his greatest chance of beating me was on the feet, and my greatest chance most people thought would be on the ground, but it just so happened that I knocked him out,” the former middleweight champ said in way of explanation.
“I don’t think in this world, in this lifetime, he’s going to be taking me down and submitting me. I think the same thing is at stake here,” Weidman continued. “Where, there’s danger on the feet and I have to be prepare for that, but he has to be prepared for the same thing on the feet. And then as far as the ground, I think I’m just on a different level, for sure.”
Weidman (15-5) went on a 1-5 skid starting with the loss of his middleweight title to Luke Rockhold in 2015. All five of his losses ended in a KO or TKO, making many question the longevity of the former champion. “The All-American” bounced back last year, however, with a one-sided unanimous decision against Omari Akhmedov.
Watch the full UFC 261 media day scrum with Chris Weidman above. The event takes place this Saturday, April 24 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The main card airs live on PPV.
