Why Chris Weidman is not the #1 contender

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Any fighter who is on the cusp of the title picture calls out the champ of their respective weight class after a big win. Its just instinct. You just won a fight and now feel that you can beat anyone on Earth as the adrenaline continues to course through your veins.

Whether or not you are truly the next in line is a much different story.

As is the case with rising UFC middleweight prospect, Chris Weidman.

Weidman would appear to be on an unstoppable title run as he dominates his opponents and looks better in each fight and at only 28-years old, he might have made a definitive case for himself as he is 5-0 in the UFC and 9-0 over his career, finishing six of those fights.

His latest (and greatest) victory came from his outstanding second-round knockout of Mark Munoz, who had his signature ‘Donkey Kong punches’ used against him after a devastating elbow landed to his forehead.

Weidman looked absolutely incredible as he threatened with submissions and deadly strikes as well as dominating every second of the ground game, which is Munoz’s strongest area.

But does this performance automatically grant Weidman a title shot just because he beat a big name like Munoz? No.

One look at Munoz’s record reveals that in the talent-rich middleweight division, Munoz has defeated the gatekeepers of the division and holds two huge losses to Matt Hamill at light-heavyweight, and Yushin Okami in a fight where the winner got to fight for a title shot.

Aside from that, Munoz is known for dominating lesser opponents and can arguably be considered a gatekeeper himself for the time being, at least until he can get a win that breaks the top-5 mark in the division.

Thus, Weidman shouldn’t be regarded as the next in line to face the most dominate champion the UFC has ever seen. Instead, let this title picture clear up in the next few months and then we can start lining up challengers for Anderson Silva to try and knock down.

Just off the top of my head, several other fighters in the division come to mind as worthy adversaries to face Weidman to really prove his mettle: Vitor Belfort, Rich Franklin, Michael Bisping, Hector Lombard, Tim Boetsch, Brian Stann, Chael Sonnen, and Alan Belcher. All of these men (except for Bisping and Sonnen) are coming off of wins and would surely like to test Weidman as all eight of these men are seasoned veterans who have been impressive as of late.

Now again, I’m not saying that Weidman doesn’t deserve a title shot but instead, should prove his worth against at least one of these men to really clear up the title argument.

Most of those fighters do have fights scheduled already but Anderson Silva often takes long vacations in between fights and surely won’t still be fighting long enough to hypothetically defend his belt against upwards of nine people.

So instead, have Weidman thrown back into the mix and help him develop slowly so that if he keeps winning, we see the best Weidman yet to challenge Silva in what could be, at that point, the last fight of Silva’s career.

Not trying to take anything away from Weidman but if he rides this momentum train into a loss against Silva, then hes right back in the mix while critics harass him for not being up to the challenge at this stage of his career. Instead, fight one or two dangerous middleweights and come away with wins before we talk title again.

Munoz's biggest UFC wins:
Demian Maia, Chris Leben, and...... Kendall Grove?

Weidman's biggest UFC wins:
Demian Maia, Mark Munoz, and......Tom Lawlor?

http://www.bjpenn.com/mmanews/2012/07/19/why-chris-weidman-is-not-next-in-line-i-bjpenn-editorial-32347.html

I am fine with that article.
Like I've said before, I think Weidman is the #1 contender for the most part because he is the only guy ready to do right now.

I do think that Bisping (assuming he beats Stann) is the number one contender. I don't think Bisping even wants a title shot as his first fight back from an injury.

Vitor/Belcher winner would be my #2 pick for the title shot. But again not read to go right now.

That would leave Weidman as my #3.

However, sometimes timing is everything. I don't really want to wait 6-9 months for Silva to fight, but that looks like what is going to happen unless you go Weidman.

That's just my two cents.

Good point.
Weidman is certainly one of the top guys right now as far as momentum is concerned (I'm not completely sold when it comes to total body of work, but he can't be completely discounted as in the mix), but he's not the clear-cut #1 guy. And like the article states, the division seems like it needs a little clarity before anyone is handed a title shot right now at this point in time. So waiting to see how things play out isn't a bad thing.
Also, if Weidman goes in there and get mauled, then what? Shaken confidence? Maybe another loss? Back of the line?

I just think he'd do himself a big favor in the long run to take another fight against a top guy who isn't the champ right now.

Yeah, a big part of this whole thing is this

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Most of those fighters do have fights scheduled already

And like Stock said I don't want another year to go by before he defends his title... if thats even the route they go.

Chrom wrote:

Yeah, a big part of this whole thing is this

Quote :

Most of those fighters do have fights scheduled already

And like Stock said I don't want another year to go by before he defends his title... if thats even the route they go.

Who is "they"?
LOL

But the fact that most of the contenders already have fights scheduled is exactly why I think a top contender should not be named just yet. There are important fights coming in the near future in determining how the MW title shot picture will play out. It would be a hasty decision to offer someone a title shot right now, considering how many pivotal matchups are about to take place.

War Bisping!!!!!! oh wait wrong topic

Triggerman99 wrote:

Chrom wrote:

Yeah, a big part of this whole thing is this

Quote :

Most of those fighters do have fights scheduled already

And like Stock said I don't want another year to go by before he defends his title... if thats even the route they go.

Who is "they"?
LOL

But the fact that most of the contenders already have fights scheduled is exactly why I think a top contender should not be named just yet. There are important fights coming in the near future in determining how the MW title shot picture will play out. It would be a hasty decision to offer someone a title shot right now, considering how many pivotal matchups are about to take place.

They being Silva's managers and the UFC. But come on, it's not like the Title vanishes if Silva loses it... who ever where to be set as the #1 contender after all these fights are done, would still get a shot... no matter who the champ would be at the time. Their title shot wouldn't vanish into thin air if Anderson were to lose.

Or if Anderson would win for that matter.

Chrom wrote:

Triggerman99 wrote:

Chrom wrote:

Yeah, a big part of this whole thing is this

Quote :

Most of those fighters do have fights scheduled already

And like Stock said I don't want another year to go by before he defends his title... if thats even the route they go.

Who is "they"?
LOL

But the fact that most of the contenders already have fights scheduled is exactly why I think a top contender should not be named just yet. There are important fights coming in the near future in determining how the MW title shot picture will play out. It would be a hasty decision to offer someone a title shot right now, considering how many pivotal matchups are about to take place.

They being Silva's managers and the UFC. But come on, it's not like the Title vanishes if Silva loses it... who ever where to be set as the #1 contender after all these fights are done, would still get a shot... no matter who the champ would be at the time. Their title shot wouldn't vanish into thin air if Anderson were to lose.

No no no...that's not what I meant.
I meant that it would be wrong to give the shot to a guy who probably isn't all that deserving just because the other top contenders (arguably more deserving fighters included in there) are about to fight each other. Silva doesn't plan to fight for awhile anyway, so what's the rush to get him a fight?

(I know, I know, some people don't like the idea that Silva wants to wait awhile, but that's a different debate altogether that has nothing to do with whether or not Weidman is the #1 contender.)

If Silva's is not planning on fighting for awhile, Weidman might as well just take another fight. If he kills, then he's likely the clear-cut #1 guy. On the other hand, if he loses or performs poorly, and one of the other guys in one of the other upcoming fights kills, then the picture is clearer the other way; where that fighter ends up being clearly the #1 guy over the other fighters, including Weidman.

I understand that this particular formula would not work under normal circumstances because it could potentially go on forever- with top guys possibly just taking each other out continually. But these aren't normal circumstances, considering the fact that Silva isn't gonna fight for awhile, there not being a true #1 contender right now, and a slew of meaningful matchups taking place in the near future.

stock wrote:

I am fine with that article.
Like I've said before, I think Weidman is the #1 contender for the most part because he is the only guy ready to do right now.

I do think that Bisping (assuming he beats Stann) is the number one contender. I don't think Bisping even wants a title shot as his first fight back from an injury.

Vitor/Belcher winner would be my #2 pick for the title shot. But again not read to go right now.

That would leave Weidman as my #3.

However, sometimes timing is everything. I don't really want to wait 6-9 months for Silva to fight, but that looks like what is going to happen unless you go Weidman.

That's just my two cents.

To be honest I think Wiedman has more impressive wins (Maia & Munoz) than Bisping. Who is Bispings best win over? Akiyama? If Belcher can beat Vitor then I would put him ahead of Wiedman... But that's a big if. It's all kind of a moot point since I don't think any of these guys could beat gsp on one knee let alone a healthy silva.

The UFC has a clear divide in talent level with GSP, Silva and Jones over everyone else (I would also throw Hendo in there as well). At this point they should just vacate those belts and do a most bad ass man on the planet tournament between those 4. Then as new dominate champs emerge (4 title defenses) in those middle 3 weight classes they can enter into the badass man tournament.

That would actually be really sweet, except GSP would get crushed in Rd. 1 over any of those guys (unless he draws Silva and can maybe keep him down for enough time to get a UD).

I would go a slightly different direction:

Have all 3 champs "vacate" their titles by taking 2 years off while a tournament is held in each division between the top four fighters in their respective divisions.
After it all plays out, the winners of the tournaments will square off with the "vacated" champs for the undisputed championship......preferably all on one big Super Championship Card. Then, if the original champs all come out on top, they must go underground and compete against each other in Badass Man Tounament. Literally go underground- like in an abandoned mine or something, and battle it out until only one man survives. Literally until only man survives. Like the other 3 are dead.