Issue 132
September 2015
Can UFC 185lb champ Chris Weidman maintain his undefeated streak against crafty Californian top contender Luke Rockhold?
When Chris Weidman brutally knocked out Anderson Silva to win the middleweight title, the 185lb division quickly opened up and a plethora of contenders began to stake their claim for a shot at his crown. None more so than former Strikeforce champion Luke Rockhold.
The American Kickboxing Academy star has finished his last four opponents in devastating fashion en route to his upcoming title shot. Lyoto Machida, Michael Bisping, Tim Boetsch and Costas Philippou all fell to his overwhelming offensive assault.
Weidman might not have been as active as his opponent, only managing to defend his title three times since he won it in 2013, but the 31-year-old New York native’s victories have all come over former champions: Silva again, Machida and Vitor Belfort.
With their highly anticipated scrap scheduled to take place before the end of the year, Fighters Only sat down with three of MMA’s most experienced coaches to find out who they believe will walk away with the strap when the Octagon door is closed.
FO catches up with three of the leading coaches in the game to get their thoughts and predictions ahead of the middleweight division’s two top talents going head-to-head.
BJJ
John Crouch
Head coach at The MMA Lab
“The thing that will decide the matchup is that Weidman is the better wrestler, at least on paper. His style is very physical in jiu-jitsu and sometimes that can overwhelm finesse guys. Rockhold isn’t a finesse guy but he’s not quite the credentialed wrestler that Weidman is. So I have to give Weidman the advantage on the ground.
“Weidman has competed in Abu Dhabi against great grapplers. He sees great grapplers all the time and he’s outstanding. He’s as good as anybody on the ground. Luke is good on the ground too, but we haven’t really seen him against guys who are fantastic wrestlers.
“Rockhold trains at the best camp in MMA. He’s got Cain Velasquez and Daniel Cormier, and I don’t think you can get better training partners for wrestlers. He’s in the right place to know Chris’ strengths, try to stay away from them and have the training partners to help him defend the takedown and an aggressive style on the ground.”
STRIKING
Steven Wright
Head striking coach at Team Takedown
“It will be more competitive than people think. Many fans believe Rockhold is the superior striker and Weidman is the superior wrestler grappler. The reason why is because Luke is consistent with his body kick game against everybody. We saw it in his fights with ‘Jacare’ Souza and in the fight against Costas Philippou.
“He can score with the left hand, although it’s like he’s not normally left-handed, like (lineal middleweight boxing champion) Miguel Cotto who trained his whole life with his power hand forward. He can score with the straight left but the killer is the right hook. He’s also very good at transitioning from strikes to submissions very quickly.
“I’ve never felt the strongest about Weidman’s offensive flow but I feel really strong about his offensive efficiency. He believes in his athleticism and his chin, so he’s always going to walk people down, look for offense and he’s going to be really, really aggressive with combinations.
“He doesn’t punch in between strikes, but he does throw with opponents. He’s not the type of guy who will wait for you to get off first. Look for Chris Weidman to push the pace because pressure is his game plan. He’s going to walk people down and make them make a decision.
“Weidman can turn his striking into wrestling at any point. He’s hittable, but can anyone dance away from him for 25 minutes? With his pressure, going to the body a lot and his snatch single, I see him winning.”
WRESTLING
Izzy Martinez
Jackson-Wink MMA Wrestling Coach
“I’m going with Chris Weidman in this fight. Weidman is going to beat him because he’s got better tools all the way around. His wrestling is obviously superior, his jiu-jitsu is superior. In the striking department, it’ll be interesting because of Luke’s long range. He’s also very aggressive, tough and clever. He’s a great fighter, but I just don’t understand how Luke is going to be able to stop Weidman’s wrestling.
“What Weidman does really well is that he exchanges his punches and his takedowns. He blends his game well. He punches hard so guys don’t want to get hit by him, so they’re going to get taken down. The guys that don’t want to be taken down by him are going to get punched hard.
“That’s where Chris does such an awesome job with his game plans. He’s aggressive and he wants to go out there and win and that’s going to be a little too much for Luke. These guys need to learn how to blend their wrestling, they’ve got to learn how to blend their striking with their wrestling and vice versa.
“If I was Luke’s coach I’d talk to him about Chris’ second and third attempts. Luke has been around enough wrestling at the AKA camp with Cain (Velasquez) and ‘DC’ (Daniel Cormier), so he’ll do well stopping the first attempt. I just don’t know if he’ll be able to stop the third and fourth attempt.”
