On the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, UFC commentator Joe Rogan and his crew (Brendan Schaub and Bryan Callen) discuss Chris Weidman and the middleweight title among other topics in their UFC 194 discussion.
Rogan explains how a spinning wheel kick attempt by Weidman in the third round was easily turned into a Rockhold takedown. From there, the title challenger smashed Weidman, the champion, with punches and elbows from the top position. It was blow after blow until the third round finally came to an end – Weidman was left battered and bloody.
However, the champion showed his mental and physical fortitude when he rose for the fourth round. His corner cleaned him off, game him some instruction, and close to recovering from the savage beating. Obviously exhausted, Weidman gave up another takedown; when his guard was passed, it was pretty much over. Rockhold just needed a few seconds of teeing off to garner the referee’s mercy, and crown Rockhold as the new UFC middleweight champion.
“That was one of the biggest mistakes in the history of MMA in championship fights,” says Rogan.
There’s no doubt that the flashy kick attempt inevitably led to the end of the fight, but the question rises whether or not it cost him his chance at winning. Prior to the failed kick, Rockhold and Weidman were seemingly one round a piece with Weidman getting the better of the exchanges in that round. Weidman landed several hard kicks to the body, and was having sucess with his relentless pressure in the wrestling exchanges.
“It’s not a mistake where you throw a leg kick and you get countered with a right hand and get hurt – that’s normal stuff – this [was] a crazy acrobatic move he’s not good at,” explains Rogan.
Maybe Weidman was attempting to pull off a similar outcome as Luke Rockhold’s UFC debut against Vitor Belfort where Rockhold was KO’d by a spinning wheel kick, but Weidman has never been known for throwing flashy kicks. In my preview of Weidman vs. Rockhold, I described Weidman as being a “meat and potatoes” type of fighter, meaning that he avoids the flashy techniques and opts for more basic, but equally effective, attacks.
Some debate has risen as to whether Weidman deserves a rematch or not, especially with a number one contender still not fully defined. Middleweights Jacare Souza and Yoel Romero fought just before Weidman and Rockhold – this middleweight bout was set to crown the next in line. However, the bout itself was very even, and many argued it should have been scored a draw. Neither Jacare nor Romero looked qualified for getting the next title shot. Furthermore, many fans will lash out with anger if they learn Weidman is granted a rematch but former featherweight champion Jose Aldo, who lost in just 13 seconds, does not.
Whatever happens between Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold, I’m sure we will see them fight again. Even after Rockhold’s TKO victory, I still believe Weidman and Rockhold are the two best middleweights in the UFC, and could easily beat each other on any given day. Expect these two to rematch at some point, and potentially even go for the rubber match.
