Can Chris Weidman succeed where others have failed? | Photo: Keith Mills/Sherdog.com
When the Ultimate Fighting Championship unveiled Chris Weidman as the next challenger for Anderson Silva’s middleweight crown, some questioned whether or not he was worthy of such a big-ticket matchup with the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighter. Georges St. Pierre was not one of them.
Silva, who turns 38 next month, has won all 16 of his fights inside the Octagon and has held the middleweight title captive since he ripped through Rich Franklin at UFC 64 in October 2006. He last appeared at UFC 153 in October, when he moved up to 205 pounds and blew away Stephan Bonnar at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Silva has finished 15 of his last 17 opponents.
Spawned by the Serra-Longo Fight Team, Weidman trains under former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra and striking guru Ray Longo. The 28-year-old last fought at UFC on Fuel TV 4 in July, when he wiped out Mark Munoz with a savage standing elbow and follow-up punches at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. Weidman was a four-time All-American wrestler in college.
Items of interest on the Sherdog.net forums this week:
Finishing ‘The Spider’
Able Fists
Epic Audio
Unwanted
Testing ‘Ares’
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