Former champ Chris Weidman on first career loss: It was what 'I needed and deserved'

[La Paix]

Chris Weidman

Chris Weidman is still reeling from the loss of his undefeated record and UFC middleweight title. However, the ex-champ has vowed to come back stronger.

Weidman (13-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) dropped the UFC belt to Luke Rockhold (15-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) in UFC 194’s main event. He started strong, but Rockhold took over as the fight wore on and ultimately ended the contest by fourth-round TKO.

Prior to his encounter with Rockhold, “All American” had never tasted defeat in MMA competition. He moved quickly up the 185-pound ranks after his debut, defeated Anderson Silva for the title in 2013 and successfully defended the gold on three occasions afterward.

That success came to a screeching halt against Rockhold, though. The former Strikeforce champ cut Weidman open, bloodied him badly and dominated the latter portion of the contest until the stoppage arrived.

Former champ Chris Weidman on first career loss: It was what ‘I needed and deserved’ | MMAjunkie

 

[Left hand cemetery]

Respect to Weidman, he made a fan of me on Sunday.

Thanks for sharing

 

[Jonny Quest]

He will be back. Better and stronger. I think holding the title being undefeated is the worst thing for most fighters. Losing on the way there makes a big difference imo.

 

[The EZ Life]

it's scary to think that fighters performing their job have a huge risk of getting a beat down, leaving bloodied up, broken possibly, with videos all over TV and on the everlasting internet for entertainment

sad to see this picture of him... from what i can tell he's a good dude. he'll be back tho i bet. maybe even one day silva will reclaim his belt beating rockhold in spectacular fashion and when weidman challenges him for the 3rd time, silva will win (sorry weidman) and retire to glory. that is my ufc middleweight fantasy that has a slight chance of coming into fruition within the next 4 years. as a community, we should all pray to the mma gods for this miraculous transition of events to occur

 

[Obi-Wan-In-A-Million]

He seems like a good guy. I've been a Rockhold fan for years, but it was sort of sad to see Chris after the fight. The look of dejection on his face was terribly painful. His dad was awesome though. If the rest of his support system has that same mentality, then he'll be fine.

 

[Robbie Hart]

He seems like a good guy. I've been a Rockhold fan for years, but it was sort of sad to see Chris after the fight. The look of dejection on his face was terribly painful. His dad was awesome though. If the rest of his support system has that same mentality, then he'll be fine.

He'll be fine.........he will be laying people out again.........

 

[1031]

Seems like a very realistic, objective and decent guy. If you're a fan of Weidman, then you're a true mma fan.

 

[KWingJitsu]

Felt bad for him as I thought he'd win in a war, but Rockhold came in with a chip on his shoulder and kinda felt happy for him to win since he's been improving like a monster.

 

[The EZ Life]

do u guys think anderson in his prime (whenever that really was) would beat rockhold today?

or weidman for that matter

(disclaimer for my next words: this is from my somewhat decent memory, if i rewatch all his fights i may think differently)
for me, its hard to say when Silva's prime was... in my opinion he could be just as good the day weidman KOd him as he was when he was the reigning champion. So do you think Silva's downfall (unless he goes on a clean winning streak) beginning with Weidman was because he got too old/cocky or the youngin's are getting too good and too athletic/explosive/strong?

 

[kneeblock]

do u guys think anderson in his prime (whenever that really was) would beat rockhold today?

or weidman for that matter

(disclaimer for my next words: this is from my somewhat decent memory, if i rewatch all his fights i may think differently)
for me, its hard to say when Silva's prime was... in my opinion he could be just as good the day weidman KOd him as he was when he was the reigning champion. So do you think Silva's downfall (unless he goes on a clean winning streak) beginning with Weidman was because he got too old/cocky or the youngin's are getting too good and too athletic/explosive/strong?

I think he would. Styles make fights and prime Anderson would've been much too technical for Rockhold. Even in the fights with Weidman, I felt like Anderson had just slowed down that fraction of a second that made him unable to get away with his usual tactics. The Diaz fight showed how conscious he was of that slowdown as he reverted to "old" Anderson who we saw in Pride and maybe Cage Rage. Skilled, but not willing to open up due to lack of confidence. I think he's still figuring out his speed adjustment and whether he can downshift his technical approach. We won't know until he fights again where he stands or where he ever stood in a way.

 

[Wild]

I feel sorry for who gets Chris next.