You would think that after his third title defense, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion Chris Weidman would finally get the respect he deserves.
But it seems that aside from his five-round decision win over Lyoto Machida at UFC 175, there always has to be something to discredit "All American's" victories. If it's not Anderson Silva "playing around" or breaking his leg in the middle of the fight, it's a TRT-less Vitor Belfort looking like "half the man he used to be."
That's why Luke Rockhold isn't too impressed with Weidman's first-round technical knockout (TKO) victory over "The Phenom," which occurred this past weekend (Sat., May 23, 2015) at UFC 187 in Las Vegas, Nevada (see it again here).
According to Luke (via Bleacher Report), beating up a "deflated and heartless" Brazilian proves nothing.
"He fought a deflated Belfort. Vitor had no heart. Look at the difference in him when he showed up last week to what we've seen in the past. Chris is a tough guy, but that fight didn't prove anything. Vitor had one burst, and then he was done. He quit."
Weidman recently criticized Rockhold's game by saying that he "isn't great anywhere" and insinuated that Ronaldo Souza might be more deserving of the next title shot.
Of course, Luke sees things differently, as he insists he's actually better than the champion in all aspects of the fight game.
"I'm better than him everywhere. I see it as a fight that will be on the feet. He's used to guys that don't want to go to the ground with him, but I don't mind the ground. I am going to control the fight and I'm going to get in his face. I'm not going anywhere. I'm a tactician. I'm a southpaw. Everything matches up perfectly for me."
Furthermore, Rockhold revealed that if he does indeed get the title fight next, he would be more than happy to give Weidman an immediate rematch at Madison Square Garden at the tentative UFC 194 card if all goes as planned.
You dig the confidence?