Chris Weidman news features his trainer Ray Longo's confidence that the reigning UFC middleweight champion will emerge victorious.
Chris Weidman will face Lyoto Machida to defend his 185-pound title at UFC 175 on July 5th, at the Mandalay Events Center in Las Vegas. It will be his second title defense since first winning it against former pound-for-pound king Anderson Silva at UFC 162 in July 2013.
Ray Longo, who also trained former welterweight champion Matt Serra during his active stint in the UFC, spoke to The MMA Hour about how he thinks his fighter will fare on July 5th.
"I got total confidence in Chris no matter who you put in front of him," Longo said about the Chris Weidman news. "I think it's pretty obvious Belfort is more aggressive. Machida is more laid back and tries to counter punch, but he'll adjust to either guy.
"He's the champion and he's going to beat everyone they put in front of him, that's the way you have to be when your champion," he added.
Chris Weidman burst into the mainstream scene in July 2012 at a UFC on Fuel TV event against another former middleweight top contender and fellow Division I All-American wrestler, Mark Muñoz. In the said fight, he was able to emerge victorious via a second round TKO.
Right after his match against "The Filipino Wrecking Machine," Chris Weidman was immediately offered a fight against then champion Anderson Silva. It was a fight that many fans believed to be "The Spider's" toughest test in his career. In a report by Cagepotato.com, Anderson Silva only held a slim 3-1 advantage of Chris Weidman.
As a champion, however, "All-American" Chris Weidman will be facing a tough opponent of his own. Lyoto Machida is touted as one of the most elusive fighters in the game, given his Shotokan Karate background.
But for Ray Longo, this won't be a problem at all since he believes that "The Dragon" possesses one big weakness: his chin.
"I think he's got a real weak chin," Longo continued about the Chris Weidman news. "That's his weakest hole. Weidman hits that guy, he'll hurt him bad. That's why he likes to control the pace of the fight. I don't think he likes to be pushed."
