Chris Weidman vaults himself into Possible title contention
Coming into the UFC, many proclaimed New York native Chris Weidman a can’t miss prospect in the making. A stand-out wrestler for Hofstra University, Weidman stepped up to take on Mark Munoz in a potential #1 Contender’s match for the UFC Middleweight Championship at last night’s UFC on FUEL TV 4.
Let the hype train roll on! Chris Weidman dominated the former Oklahoma wrestling National Champion, knocking out Munoz just 1:37 into the 2nd round of their UFC on FUEL TV 4 main event. Weidman showed that while he didn’t have the major pedigree in college that Munoz has, the transition of his wrestling game into MMA is something to fear, taking down Munoz twice in the fight with a nicely executed single leg.
Weidman marked his rise up the Middleweight rankings with his win over Munoz, just four days after Anderson Silva continued his dominance over the division, knocking out Chael Sonnen in the 2nd round of their UFC 148 clash. As if making a statement by taking out the highly ranked Munoz wasn’t enough, Weidman made his intentions known after the fight.
“I want Anderson Silva,” Chris Weidman told Jon Anik after his impressive victory. “Every time I’ve had a full training camp, I’ve had a finish. Give me a full training camp and I want a title shot.”
Just moments into the opening round, Weidman made his statement with his wrestling, quickly taking Munoz down and showing off his impressive grappling skills that would make mentor and friend Matt Serra proud. Weidman battered Munoz with strikes and transitions, even ending up in the mount briefly before Munoz was finally able to get back to his feet near the end of the round, after spending the majority of it defending himself.
The 2nd Round started just like the first, with Weidman getting the same takedown and putting Munoz down, but this time, Munoz was able to get himself back to his feet where he wanted to his use his power to put Weidman down. The aggressiveness of Munoz would be his downfall as Weidman was able to slip a looping punch and land a perfect elbow down the center to drop the former National Champion face-first to the canvas.
Weidman would follow it up with a barrage of strikes, that would force the stoppage after way too many right hands.
With two Top 10 wins, Munoz and his short-notice victory over former contender Demian Maia, Chris Weidman has more claim to a title shot then the other top guys who are looking to be the next to try to dethrone The Spider.
“I didn’t want to be one of those guys calling out Anderson Silva, but now I am,” said Weidman. “I wanted to make a statement in this fight, that I was at the head of the pack.”
That pack, includes Michael Bisping, Alan Belcher and the newly signed, former Bellator Middleweight Champion, Hector Lombard. Riding a 25 fight win streak, Lombard is set to take on the re-surging Tim Boetsch at UFC 149 and The Barbarian’s original opponent, Bisping currently recovering from surgery set to make his return around September, they might be put to the back-burner for now to make room rising undefeated young middleweight.
And after his impressive stoppage of Munoz, can you make a better case for anyone other than Chris Weidman?
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About the Author (Author Profile)
I was born in New York, but currently reside in PA. Have been following the sport since about 2000, ever since I picked up a few VHS' of the old UFC tournaments. I served on active duty in the Marines and currently serve in the PA Army National Guard. I've been doing sub-wrestling and BJJ for about 2 years and have studied Aikido for 3 years. I enjoy all forms of combat sports, but huge into BJJ tournaments and of course, MMA.Subscribe
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