UFC Futures: Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold Date: N/A Location: N/A Venue: N/A Broadcast: PPV UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman The undisputed, defending middleweight champion of the world, Chris Weidman (13-0) is an absolute beast. After two freakishly odd, yet dominating wins over Anderson Silva, Chris Weidman is ready to leave the entire storyline of Silva killer behind and keep defending his middleweight title. He started that at UFC 173 with a successful title defence over Lyoto Machida, and then finished Vitor Belfort at UFC 187. Weidman is an incredibly talented grappler as he’s an NCAA All-American and pupil of Renzo Gracie’s BJJ academy. Weidman has fantastic submissions, crisp hands, and great size and ability. He’s also a smart fighter, and he has shown his relentless pursuit of finishing his opponent with powerful wins over Mark Munoz, Alessio Sakara, and of course Silva two times. Many have doubted his wins as flukes, considering Silva’s clowning and leg injury in their last two bouts, but after defeating Machida and Belfort he’s proven he’s a P4P great. His next matchup comes against Luke Rockhold later in 2015. UFC Middleweight Contender Luke Rockhold Luke Rockhold (14-2) came into the UFC as the final Strikeforce middleweight champion. He was a force in the San Jose-based promotion, winning nine of his 10 fights there, including defeating Jacare Souza for the middleweight title, and defending it against Tim Kennedy and Keith Jardine. Rockhold has sharp hands and a deep gas tank, which has allowed the 30-year-old surfer to overwhelm his opponents until they give up the rear-naked choke, a submission he’s won with five times in his career. When Strikeforce folded back in January of 2013, Rockhold anxiously awaited his opportunity to compete in the UFC, but his welcoming party was a spinning heel kick to the face courtesy of Vitor Belfort. Using that loss as motivation, Rockhold took out his frustrations against Tim Boetsch and Costas Philippou in his next two fights, finishing both men in the first round. With a two-fight win streak in his back pocket, Rockhold called out top contender Michael Bisping, and he submitted him with a guillotine choke for the biggest win of his career to date. He then followed that up by defeating Lyoto Machida at UFC on FOX 15. Now he gets a chance to fight for the UFC middleweight crown against Chris Weidman later this year. Opening UFC Futures Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas made Weidman a -150 favorite (bet $150 to win $100) while Rockhold opened as a +120 underdog (bet $100 to win $120) at Several Bookmakers. This is going to be an incredible event between the UFC middleweight champion, Weidman, and the No. 1 contender, Rockhold. Weidman is 9-0 in the UFC while Rockhold is 4-1 and both men have looked amazing as of late, with Weidman destroying Vitor Belfort at UFC 187 and Rockhold finishing Lyoto Machida at UFC on FOX 15. Both fighters are extremely well rounded, with great wrestling, striking, submissions, cardio, and the ability to mix in all elements of MMA together to win fights. Weidman is the champion, so he deserves the respect to be favored heading into this fight, but Rockhold is an incredible fighter and with his skillset, he very well could be the man to dethrone the champ. We’ll find out, hopefully, later this year.
