Chris Weidman reacts after his victory over Omari Akhmedov of Russia in their middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on August 08, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
UFC middleweight Chris Weidman believes Robert Whittaker can beat Israel Adesanya after ‘The Reaper’s’ win over Kelvin Gastelum.
Robert Whittaker put on an absolute clinic against Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of the recently concluded UFC Fight Night. He thoroughly outclassed and outscored Gastelum with all three judges scoring the contest, 50-45.
With that win, Whittaker solidified his position as the number one ranked middleweight contender, and the aftermath had the MMA community talking about a rematch against the current champion Israel Adesanya.
Whittaker, for his part, called out Adesanya at the post-fight interview as well. He told Michael Bisping:
“I think it’s about time we crossed paths once again (Adesanya). I’m going to work hard. I think I have some tricks he hasn’t seen yet and I’ll give him a good run.”
Whittaker looked his best against Gastelum, and number 11 ranked UFC middleweight and former middleweight champion Chris Weidman addressed this in his recent interview with Ariel Helwani of ESPN MMA.
Weidman, claimed that this version of Whittaker would certainly beat Adesanya in a rematch, while also explaining why he felt so.
Weidman was quoted as saying:
I do think that [he can beat Adesanya]. He went into that first fight really wild. More wild than I’ve ever seen. He was not comfortable. But, in this fight he looked amazing. I thought he looked great. His leaping jab to his head kicks was just so beautiful. Some of the techniques he was throwin, were just so sharp. And, to do it against a guy like Kelvin Gastelum [is amazing]. He blew me away. I thought he did excellent and I think he can beat Adesanya.”
Weidman will be taking on Uriah Hall in the main card of UFC 261. Weidman is coming off a victory against Omari Akhmedov in August, last year.
He was on a two-fight losing streak prior to that, which also saw him move up to the light-heavyweight division, only to be devastated by a Dominick Reyes punch in the very first round.
There is no clear favourite or underdog in the fight, as Weidman is a narrow favourite in a few websites, while he is an underdog in a few as well. ‘The All American’ will be looking forward to getting back into the top 5 of the middleweight rankings.
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