Chris Weidman, a UFC middleweight contender, has his sights set on fighting for the interim middleweight title after his thumb heals. Weidman hasn’t competed since scoring a submission win over Kelvin Gastelum last July in Long Island.
Luke Rockhold, a former UFC, and Strikeforce middleweight champ will brawl with Yoel Romero for the UFC interim middleweight title at UFC 221 in Perth. Technically, Rockhold was expected to battle undisputed champion Robert Whittaker on the card but Whittaker was forced out due to an active staph infection.
While former middleweight champ Georges St-Pierre has vacated the belt for good, Michael Bisping’s retirement bout is still in the air. So Chris Weidman and Jacare Souza are sound options for each other.
Weidman while speaking to MMAFighting:
“I can see myself potentially jumping in there for a title shot against maybe the winner of the fight coming up, depending on Whittaker’s health,” Weidman said (Via MMAFighting.com). “I’d get a rematch with Rockhold which has been a long time coming. We were supposed to have that rematch right away and my surgery held that up. Or Yoel Romero. Both those fights would be great. If not that, you got ‘Jacare’ who just came off a great win. I don’t mind that fight, either.”
“That fight does intrigue me,” Weidman said. “I love ‘Jacare.’ I’m a fan of ‘Jacare.’ I just feel like he would be a great test for me. We’ve been around each other for a long time in the division. We never fought. And I would love to test myself against him.”
While Jacare Souza understands he might have to wait before he’s given a shot at the title. In that event, he’s prepared to fight former champion Chris Weidman in the meantime.
”It’s a fight that makes sense,” Souza said (Via MMAFighting.com). “I never turned down a fight, especially a good fight like this. It would be a huge pleasure to fight him. This is the fight that makes sense now. I don’t know if he’s healthy because he just has hand surgery. What I know is that I’m super healthy. I’ll give my body a few days to rest, celebrate my anniversary a lot more, and then I’ll be back to training.”
Share your thoughts, is this fight sounds interesting to you? Who do you think will win?
