After 25 minutes of fighting and a decision in the books, middleweight champion Chris Weidman has successfully moved on from the “Anderson Silva” chapter of his career.
Beating Silva twice and then battering Lyoto Machida is no small feat, yet the Long Island native made it look easy Saturday night at UFC 175. Weidman is beginning to give Jon Jones a run for his money as a legend-building, contender-smashing New York champion.
“When you beat a guy like Anderson twice, and the way Chris beat him twice, then to go on and beat a guy like Machida, and have those two guys on your resume, while still being undefeated…,” UFC President Dana White said at a post-fight press conference. “Let’s see what happens.”
Despite the fact the two most dominant champions in UFC are from New York, the Empire State is one of the few remaining places that ban professional mixed martial arts bouts.
Jones has been regarded as peerless when it comes to current champions – truly the cream of the crop, whose reign has no end in sight. But with a win over Machida, Weidman began his own turn of dominance. Also among the very small handful of men who can say they beat Machida: that would be Jones.
Weidman pressured Machida, a fighter known for his elusiveness, for five rounds. Machida had his moments in the fourth round, but for the better part of the fight, Weidman got in Machida’s face and bloodied up the Brazilian on the mat with brutal elbows and ground and pound. He never let Machida find his range.
And so, Weidman’s championship tenure begins to gain new dimensions and depth, nearly paralleling Jones’ reign atop the light heavyweight division after winning the belt back in 2011.
Within a year, people may be talking about a Weidman-Jones super-fight, much like they did when Silva was champ.