Chris Weidman would fight Luke Rockhold again, but not Anderson Silva
Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman says he’s open to a rematch against former rival Luke Rockhold but isn’t interested in fighting Anderson Silva again.
Weidman was knocked out by Dominick Reyes in his UFC light heavyweight debut his last time out, and overall he has lost five of his last six fights. But he has no plans on hanging up his gloves anytime soon and instead is looking towards his next fight.
Speaking on the MMA and Beyond Podcast, Weidman says he is open to fighting Rockhold again, but he has no interest in a trilogy fight against Silva. What he’s looking for, ideally, is a tune-up fight. Here’s what Weidman said (h/t Abhinav Kini of TheBodyLockMMA.com).
“Rockhold, I’d like to fight him but not this next fight, I’ll take a tune-up fight. I still think he’s good. Obviously, people say he doesn’t have a chin anymore but they say that about me too. I still think he’s a tough opponent,” Weidman said.
“Anderson Silva? No. They need to pay me crazy money to fight him. That’s a no. I already beat him twice. Got nothing to gain from that unless it’s money.”
Weidman defeated Silva twice in 2013 to win and defend the UFC middleweight title but lost his belt to Rockhold in dominant fashion back at UFC 194 in 2015. Since then he has won just one fight.
However, Weidman is still a big name in the sport so despite all the losses mounting on his resume he is not at any danger of being released. Instead, it seems like he will have a tune-up fight his next time out. Against who, though, is the question no one knows the answer to just now.
“I haven’t had a tune-up fight in my career. My last 11 or 12 guys are top five in the world. I’ve been in main events and on the main card since my first fight in the UFC,” Weidman said.
Who should Chris Weidman fight next?
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