Merab Dvalishvili, a teammate of Chris Weidman, feels the former UFC middleweight was unprepared for his return fight at UFC 292.
Weidman was making his highly-anticipated return after breaking his leg during his fight against Uriah Hall. The return to the Octagon took over two years for his leg to completely heal and for Weidman to finally take a fight.
When he was ready to return, Chris Weidman was booked to face Brad Tavares at UFC 292, in a fight he was the betting underdog in. Early on, Tavares threw plenty of leg kicks that hurt Weidman, and from there on in, he couldn’t move the same and the Hawaiian picked him apart.
Dvalishvili says Weidman didn’t watch any tape
“Tavares is a great fighter, he’s a very good guy also. I was very heartbroken. Chris is my brother and teammate. He’s really somebody I look up (to), he’s a great family man and a really great guy,” Dvalishvili said to MMAJunkie. “I also know Tavares. Tavares is also a good guy. I’ve been seeing him here in Vegas a lot of times and we’re kind of friendly. I feel heartbroken to see two good guys fight each other, and somebody was getting hurt,like injured. I think he (Weidman) must come back. But, he was talking at the dinner we had before the fight, after the weigh-ins. Chris was talking, he wasn’t watching his opponent’s fights before.
“I think, he didn’t know that Tavares was kicking. That was a little bit of a shock for me because of Chris coming from this leg injury. And he wasn’t watching if his opponent was kicking or (his style). It’s a little bit, not a good decision, you know? Chris was trying to take Tavares down. But, I find out now that Tavares has the best takedown defense, he has a good takedown defense and he kicks a lot. Chris must know that,” Dvalishvili concluded.
Although Merab Dvalishvili says Chris Weidman didn’t watch the tape, Merab was happy to see the former UFC middleweight champ return after his injury. He also hopes Weidman does fight again, as he thinks he can do much better.
