Earlier this week, Chael Sonnen made some headlines by saying that Chris Weidman could beat Israel Adesanya. Now he brought the former middleweight champ on his show to discuss this for himself.
A lot of people were quite dismissive of Sonnen’s claims that either Weidman, or former welterweight champ Tyron Woodley, pose the biggest threat to Israel Adesanya’s throne. Although this makes sense in terms of a stylistic matchup, both men are far from title shots. In particular, Chris is 2-5 since losing his title in 2015, and is only on a one-fight winning streak. Therefore fans thought it ridiculous that he could be considered a legitimate threat to the belt.
Chris Weidman Agrees With Chael Sonnen
Someone who does not think this is a ridiculous idea is, of course, Chris Weidman himself. Chael Sonnen invited him onto a subsequent episode of his podcast to ask him about how he stacks up with Israel Adesanya. It would appear that the New York native is convinced that he has what it takes to best Adesanya.
“Absolutely (I can beat Adesanya),” Weidman said. “I think that’s a tailor-made matchup for me. Those athletic strikers, tall lanky guys, I’ve proven that I can beat. I think pressure, wrestling, heavy punches and kicks…just nonstop pressure is what you need to beat them. That’s the recipe that beats those guys. I’ve proves that with Anderson Silva twice, Uriah Hall another one. Those guys are in trouble against me.
“I think that’s an exciting fight to make,” Weidman continued. “If you look up and down the rankings, I don’t think there’s too many other fights that can excite people the way our narratives could work, and what I bring to the table. It’s not any bulls–t, it’s just facts. If you’re into MMA and you really understand the game, you look at my game and you know I present some serious trouble for Adesanya, and more than anybody’s ever had in the past. He hasn’t really fought any other great, accoladed wrestler, other than Yoel Romero who doesn’t use his wrestling so I don’t even count that. I’m the type of guy that will bring that pressure, and I will take him down and ragdoll him on the floor.”
Considering his place in the rankings and the way his last few fights have gone, Chris Weidman clearly needs to get a few more wins before he can be considered a title contender. Regardless it seems that he and Chael Sonnen are in agreement over the way his style matches up against Israel Adesanya.
1 thought on “Chris Weidman: Israel Adesanya Is ‘A Tailor-Made Matchup For Me’”
How tf you gonna put yourself in that level fighting style with izzy!?
Seriously….you wouldnt even it make it 2 rounds with costa let alone 3 and look at how easy Izzy mentally and physically broke his ass.
Dont be the next mf to get it in the ass by Izzy weidman.
Come on now