Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman recently revealed that he had a broken foot going into his fight with Luke Rockhold in December. Weidman, who was forced to disclose the injury after reports about it came out, said he wasn’t trying to use it as an excuse, but admitted he was hurt before the fight. Since news of the injury wasn’t disclosed until after the fight, it didn’t affect his online MMA betting odds of winning the fight.
Weidman is scheduled to fight Rockhold in a rematch of their December fight at UFC 199 in June, and from the interview he gave, he is healthy and ready to take his championship belt back from Rockhold.
In their first fight, Weidman lost to Rockhold in the fourth round by TKO but didn’t show any signs of being bothered by his foot which he said was broken in two places. After the fight, Weidman said Rockhold’s win was a fluke and promised it wouldn’t happen if they met again.
UFC President Dana White must have been paying attention because he gave Weidman a rematch, now he has to prove that the first fight was a fluke with an impressive win over Rockhold.
In the interview, Weidman said he did not want to pull out of the first fight with Rockhold because he had fought with injuries and won in the past, which made him confident he could do it again.
Weidman claims that he had a broken hand in his fight against Lyoto Machida at UFC 175, even though the fight was postponed to give him time to heal from knee surgery. Weidman also said he was dealing with a broken rib when he fought Alessio Sakara in 2011.
When Weidman faced Demian Maia in 2012, he said he had to cut 32 pounds in 10 days because he took the fight on short notice.
Weidman said in the interview that he knows what he is capable of and how much potential he has, and believes his performance in the first fight against Rockhold wasn’t anywhere close to what he would have done if he was healthy.
Weidman also acknowledged the fact that a lot of fighters who lose their belt don’t automatically get an immediate rematch, and is thankful for the opportunity that Dana White gave him. Weidman said he would take advantage of the second chance and use it to prove that Rockhold’s win in their first fight was a fluke that won’t happen again.
Before their UFC 194 fight, Rockhold and Weidman talked a little trash but both men claimed to respect each other. This time around, there is no love lost between the two men. According to Weidman, Rockhold has been saying some unflattering things about him to other people in private, which Weidman doesn’t appreciate.
When told about Weidman’s injury status before the fight, Rockhold said it was the nature of the business they are in, and that he was also dealing with staph infection before the fight and was on antibiotics.
Weidman believes Rockhold’s win made him cocky and promised to feed Rockhold some humble pie during their upcoming fight.
What do you think, fluke or not? And do you think Weidman will be able to reclaim the title from Rockhold at UFC 199?