The undefeated, undisputed UFC Middleweight Champion, Chris Weidman, will defend his title and his perfect record against No. 1 contender Luke Rockhold at UFC 194 on Saturday, December 12, live on pay-per-view. You knew there was a big event coming up, but you had no idea about the Weidman part, did you?
That’s because the big draw here is the main-event featherweight bout between Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo. A great way to give this pay-per-view a little more boost is to add another title fight, so… Eh, we’ll just throw in Weidman. UFC has done that a few times, actually. If fact, that’s all they’ve done with Weidman as champion.
Well, to say that Weidman hasn’t headlined any pay-per-views as champion isn’t exactly accurate. He was at the top of the card for both UFC 168 and UFC 175. Both times, however, Ronda Rousey was also on the card. Could that be because UFC didn’t believe Weidman was a big enough draw by himself? For his next two fights, Weidman was and will be actually playing second fiddle to other title fights. It’s likely that UFC’s positioning of him has conditioned fans to think, Weidman? Meh.
When you break it down that Chris Weidman is the man who knocked Anderson Silva, who many believe to be the greatest pound-for-pound fighter of all-time, off his throne with the most spectacular knockout punch in UFC history, then beat him again, then beat Lyoto Machida in a Fight of the Night, then decimated Vitor Belfort, all while remaining undefeated and scandal-free, you’d think he’d be tailor-made for UFC superstardom. (Honestly, just cleaning Anderson Silva’s clock the way he did should be enough.) You have to try pretty hard to not make this guy a star, and that seems to be exactly what UFC is doing.
There are a few pretty simple reasons why I’m a Chris Weidman fan: I think he’s a tremendous fighter, and he seems like a good dude. He also hails from Nassau County, Long Island, which is where I happen to be from. I understand that everyone likes different fighters for different reasons, so by no means do I intend for this to be Please Like Chris Weidman! babble and convince you that he should be your favorite fighter. I just haven’t been given a valid reason not to like the guy. I don’t understand why fans are so indifferent to him, and I really don’t understand why Dana White and UFC seemingly go out of their way to not feature him as a big star. After his co-main event win over Belfort at UFC 187 this past May, Weidman acknowledged as much in his post-fight interview:
“Hey, stop doubting me. It’s enough. Stop doubting me. You better join the team now. This is my last invitation. Join the team. I love you.”
An MMA writer who I read every now and then, Ben Fowlkes of USA Today, wrote in response, “Some people say they love you because they really, truly mean it. Others do it because they just want to hear you say it in return.” That’s an accurate statement, but it’s a little unfair. Why can’t it be both? Why can’t someone say they love you and mean it, and also want to hear it in return? If it’s truly genuine, should you absolutely not give a damn if you hear it back? Saying that Weidman just wanted to hear “I love you” in return seemed like a nitpicky reaction to someone who didn’t deserve the criticism.
If you were to explain to me that Chris Weidman has a plain look and a dull personality, I can’t really argue with you. He doesn’t talk trash about anybody, and he doesn’t have any cool nicknames. What you see is what you get, a white guy from Long Island who walks out on fight night to Tom Petty. But to say that’s the reason why he’s not a star is a little asinine. He’s not a pro wrestler. It’s not his job to come up with some kind of captivating character with signature moves, poses and catchphrases. It is UFC’s job, however, to take a page from pro wrestling’s book and promote him as a star and a credible champion who people would pay to see, which they’ve pretty much done the opposite of. To put it bluntly, it’s not Weidman’s job to be interesting. It’s his job to win fights, which you can say right now he does better than anyone. MMA is a sport first and an entertainment spectacle second, not the other way around.
I’ve never met Chris Weidman, so I can’t tell you much about what kind of person he is outside of the cage. He could be a big fat jerk, for all I know, but he doesn’t appear to be any kind of troublemaker, which is a lot more than I can say for former UFC golden boy Jon Jones. I’ve never met him, either, but it’s public knowledge that Jones has driven under the influence, has tested positive for cocaine, and was most recently at the forefront of a rather bizarre hit-and-run incident. Yet, after all this, it still seems like he has more fan support than Weidman does. Why is a guy who’s clearly a menace to society more beloved than a guy with a spotless reputation? Yes, Jones has been punished for his most recent controversy, but he still has legions of fans, both in the stands and the front office, who can’t wait for him to get back in the cage. Maybe UFC can throw a Weidman title fight underneath him to give that pay-per-view a little more boost, you know?
Not much needs to be analyzed about Chris Weidman the fighter because his resume speaks for itself. The only thing I can tell you about Chris Widman the man, however, is that UFC and its fans just don’t buy into him, and that’s both a shame and a waste.