Chris Weidman has some work to do, before he locks up a fight with Jon Jones. But, if and when he fights the UFC’s heralded, light-heavyweight champ, Weidman sounds pretty confident he’ll end “Bones'” reign.
Weidman’s move to 205
During Weidman’s run as the UFC’s middleweight champ, the decorated wrestler talked about the possibility of moving up to light-heavyweight at some juncture. He also expressed an interest in doing so, as a means to throw hands with Jones.
Well, following Weidman’s knockout loss to “Jacare” Souza last November, “The All-American” finally decided the time was right to make the jump. At UFC Boston on October 18th, Weidman will take on rising light-heavyweight, Dominick Reyes.
Weidman’s recent comments about Jones
As Weidman gets set to make his light-heavyweight debut in the Octagon, it’s clear he hasn’t abandoned his desire of facing Jones. Case in point, during a recent interview with Submission Radio, the 35-year-old New York fighter said this (quotes via MMA Mania):
“Being the guy that shocks the world, not once but twice, against what people think are the greatest of all time, and against someone that most people think can’t even be beaten,” Weidman said. “And that’s where Anderson Silva was when I fought him and this is where Jon Jones is right now, and so that motivates the hell out of me. That’s the legacy I want.”
“I always believed there’s a blueprint to beat [Jones],” Weidman continued. “You see it a little bit more, but I always knew he’s beatable, and I think if it was a guy like me with power in the hands and also the wrestling that’s better and Jiu Jitsu. So, I think that’s really I take it to him. But no one’s been able to do that yet. He’s done a great job, he adjusts really well in there. So, that’s the goal, is to get in there with him.”
It’s certainly true that most people did not expect Weidman to beat Silva, when he did for the first time in 2013. At the time, Silva was widely regarded to be one of the best fighters, if not the best on the planet, and he hadn’t lost a fight since 2006 (and that was via disqualification). Further, you have to admire Weidman for wanting to battle Jones, and it would be really interesting to see if he could put his wrestling into play against the champ.
But, first things first, and that’s Reyes. Weidman will likely need to defeat the rising star, and do so convincingly, in order to lock-up a title shot. That probably won’t be easy.
Jones, meanwhile, is coming off a tightly contested, split decision win over Thiago Santos in July.
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