MMA Fighting - Chris Weidman Hopes to Use Win Over Uriah Hall As Further Proof That He's the Man to Beat Israel Adesanya

Episode Date: April 23, 2021

Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman breaks down his past fight with Uriah Hall, how much has changed going into the rematch and his plans to use this fight as a statement to send reigning king Israel Adesanya a strong message. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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hall for a second time. Chris, welcome back. How is everything? Everything is great, man. I appreciate you having me on. Absolutely. So, Chris, I know we spoke earlier this year. Unfortunately, you had kind of a setback in terms of a concept of.

coming back with the COVID-19 thing and obviously the delay in that, man. So how was getting through that? Obviously, you're healthy now, but I know, you know, you got to be honest, man. We've heard some stories. COVID-19 can knock you on your ass. Yeah, just a minor stepback for a major comeback, you know? I don't know where I've heard that before, but what a genius little slogan I'm going to live by.

Yeah, no, so I had corona for about two days. I had like a bad headache and no coughing or anything. just bad headache and body aches and I had a fever. I threw up once. And then I was pretty good, but, you know, talking to UFC and some other, my doctor, they recommended for 14 days, don't do anything, no working out. And then, you know, not training for two weeks. And then having, I had like three and a half weeks left until I would be fighting,

it just kind of messed up the timeline. And then I asked if we. could push it back maybe a week or a couple weeks. And then they pushed it back to April 24th. And to be honest, it was all like, to me, I'm an optimistic person. I always kind of look for the silver lining. And I feel like it really was like a blessing in disguise. I'm in great shape.

I haven't got out of shape since I was training for the last training camp. So it's just allowed me to stay super consistent with training and developing my skills and keeping my cardio up and working on strength and conditioning. So everything's great. Yeah, absolutely. It's good to hear. Obviously, you know, coming back in this fight,

you know, I didn't get a chance to talk to you about this fight when it was originally matched up, but what did you think about getting your eye haul again? I mean, I don't think there was any bad blood or anything from fighting him, you know, 10 years ago. But were you okay with this matchup? It was kind of a weird one. I didn't really see this one coming.

I got to be honest. Yeah, I mean, originally it was, we were kind of looking for Derek Brunson. And then Derek Bronson was saying that he wanted somebody higher more, like someone that was ranked higher. And so it didn't happen. And then there was back and forth for a little bit. And then Urya Hull came up and I said, yeah, you know what, let's do it. You know, he's on a little bit of a streak right now. He's coming off a huge win over Aniston Silva.

And, you know, we obviously have some history. I know I was his first loss, first time he ever got stopped. And so I'm sure he wants that back. And that motivates me because I'm not going to let him, you know, get that win back. And I want to show how much I progressed over the years. So there's definitely a lot of ego involved on who's improved over the years. Because when we first fall, we were both, you know, top prospects, really in the country. And, but we were both New York guys, East Coast guys.

And, you know, he was the striker. I was the wrestler. Everyone who knew him, they thought he was unbeatable. Everybody who knew me, they thought I was unbeatable. And we went out there and, you know, everyone felt like I was going to have to get it to the ground. I was going to just out-wrestle him and dominate him on the ground if I was going to win. And people thought if we kept this stand and he was going to, you know, be able to knock me out. And, you know, ironically, I ended up knocking him out with the left.

took and the same left hook I really knocked out into Sistula with just a long long left hook as he was weaving out it's funny because I remember that was actually the first time I remember hearing the name chris wideman I remember that fight because I remember saying have you have you seen this guy chris wideman because I'm a wrestling guy so I was like oh yeah okay okay I know who chris Wyman is, and I saw that knock, and I was like, oh, geez, because that was a ring of combat, right? Yes, sir. Yep, bring in combat. Yeah, so I remember it from back then.

It was a huge thing at the time. Yeah, absolutely. Now, I know at this point, I mean, you're obviously, that was your third professional fight, so, you know, it's almost, you know, it's almost stupid to say, what do you, you know, what can you take away from that fight? But what was your biggest memory of him in that fight? And is there anything at all that you can take away from that fight? even a mental edge just knowing you knocked him out before.

I don't care if it was 10 years ago or not. You did knock him out. Yeah, I mean, at the end of that, yes, that's going to be something he has to battle with. And that's on him, you know, being knocked out by me. And he's still going to obviously have to worry about the ground game. And knowing that I can knock him out if I decide to, that's something that he's going to have to, you know, push through mentally. But for me, really, memory-wise, I just knew I was going to. be in his face and I'm going to break him.

And I remember him staring me down before the fight in the cage just eye me up, eye me up and I was staying cool, calm and collected and just thinking, all right, buddy, you're staring me down, we're about the fight. So relax yourself. Waste your energy, you're going to need it. And he walked out, the mama's going to knock you out.

And there was a, you know, he had a lot of fans with Tiger Shulman. You know, they had a lot of schools. And we, you know, I had a lot of fans there as well. So it was, it was a fun, crazy environment. And, yeah, I just, it was a great win for sure. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Now, coming back, I mean, obviously, as I said, you do have a win over him.

But where you're at in the division is you start climbing back in the middle of ranks. I mean, beating Omari Ak-Metov was a big deal. That guy is super, super tough. And I know that was a battle. And you had to go out there and beat him. And there's not very many people that can say to have a win over him. I know you said you wanted Derek Brunson.

But in a way, is this a good time to get a guy like your eye haul, considering, as you said, he is on a streak. You know, three wins in a row. He's always kind of been ranked in that top 10 area, middleweight. And it feels like this is, I hate use the word stepping stone, but it feels like this is kind of like that next step to get you back to contention, right? Like, that's where you want to go. Yeah, I actually, I think this is a great fight. It's going to be able, it's a good opportunity for me to display my skills against an athletic striker. And it just so happens that the champion in our weight class is an athletic striker, Israel.

So I want to just put out there a little bit of a blueprint what would happen if I fight Israel. And so there's more to this fight than just meeting your eye hole. I want to really make a statement in this fight. And I see myself going out there and completely dominating your eye hole, making a big statement. and letting people know that I am still here. There's just some people that may have forgot. I'm a problem. And then whether I'm fighting another fight before I fight for a title

or not, you know, fight him, maybe another big name, you know, top five guy after that, dominate him and then go fight for the title, dominate him, and then pay me some big bucks and we'll fight again. Yeah. The rematch, and then I'm out. Is there an argument to be made that Ahmedov, you know, because of what he brought to the table, actually may have been a bit of a tougher matchup stylistically than a guy like Uri Hall.

And I'm taking absolutely nothing away from Uriahol. I'm just saying stylistically, like Ahmedov is a monster. I don't think people gave him enough credit going into that fight. And he battled, obviously you beat him, but he battled. Is there an argument to be made that that actually might have been a worse stylistic matchup than Uriah? Yeah, I mean, if I had to be completely honest, with me and I would pick like the worst matchup for me it's a it's a really strong guy who wrestles who who could wrestle and also swing on their feet and present some danger there as well

and that's really what omari agamato did and on top of that he was pretty much he's completely like a no name you're probably talking the most i've heard anybody talk about him right now which is which is which is which is kind of messed up because the guy is really good he's tough he's scrappy, you know, Dagestanian wrestler, who brings it? And he's a tough outing for anybody. I know he fought after we fought,

and he finished one of the prospects. What's that guy's name he just fought last? Do you remember? I know you're talking about. I'm drawing a blank right now. Yeah, yeah. Maybe he was like a top prospect, I think, coming out of England or something,

or maybe Australia, I'm forget it, somewhere in Europe or Australia. Tom Breeze, I just thought of it. Tom Breast, that's the guy. Tom Breast. Yeah. Okay, yeah. Yeah, so that's the guy is definitely tough.

And it was one of those fights where I had a really big deep. It came down to the will and the heart and I was able to push through and get that. So that was good. I wasn't really happy with my performance. I don't think I looked great. I don't think I was in the best shape. I was tired as hell, which I always expect to get tired in a fight because if you're not tired, you're not working hard, but no matter how good a shape you're going to get tired, you're

But that one, man, I mean, it took me, it took me like a half an hour to even get my win back after that fight. I was, that was different. So I really have spent a lot of time on making sure my conditioning is on a different level of this camp. And it's paying off. I feel, I feel really, really good. I decided to go out there. I really don't like, I don't like, I don't like I do interviews. I just want to go out there, really.

Just show where I'm at. Yeah. Now, you've been down in South Carolina, right? Yeah. So most of my training's been down at Jim Mo in Gastonia. I actually got Ray Longo up here now from New York. You know, obviously that's my team, you know, the Serolongo guys. I have a Long Island wrestler who's also going to be in my corner and then Wonderboy as well.

So I've been going to, I've been splitting in time at Jim Mo. Well, I went up to New York, you know, twice. I've been at Wonderboys back and forth. He's about an hour and forth. Yeah, up-and-comers and just guys who were just on the beginnings of their career, super hungry to get better, which is nice. I get the feet off that. I feel like I'm in a really great spot.

Yeah, I saw Anthony Smith was down there with you, right? Yeah, we had Anthony Smith hit me up. His coach, Mark Martoya, was heading out of town for a week, and he has to be come out to train with me because we're on the same card. He actually fights the fight right before me on the main card. and we got great training in it for a week and he was supposed to come out this week but he uh I don't know what happens

I really don't know I haven't spoke to him but he was coming then I haven't heard from him so but he was supposed to come out here because we went out to Wonder Boys for we worked out in Gastonia at Jim Lowe from Monday Tuesday and we came out to Wonder Boys Gym for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday

and we got like an Airbnb and he was supposed to be with us but he no show I'm not mad at him, but and then Wonderboy, obviously is great for me, but especially with Uriah Hall, he's just so great at emulating and given that energy of exactly the opponent I'm going

against, and he never has an ego, he's going to do the best he can to emulate Uriah Hall, and he's been doing that, and I honestly think anything Uriah Whole could do, he could do better, and he's just been like a secret weapon for me, you know,

for the last eight years of my career since he trained with him for the first time because anytime I and I really spend time with him and I get in the octagon with the guy I'm eventually going to fight he everyone just feels slow and I see I just see everything coming up this farm with with Steve so he's he's a he's been great for me yeah and knowing people that don't know and I think Wonderboy being a welterweight and you being a middleweight I mean I've met Wonderboy he's a very tall guy for his division so it's not like you're going up against a shorter, you know, shorter guy. You know, Wonderboy is a pretty big guy for Wells-A-Wa-Wate?

Yeah, I mean, listen, is your Raya Hull maybe a little stronger than Wonderboy? I mean, I don't know. Maybe. But that's not something I have a problem with anyway. The strength factor, I don't think Uri-Hole is going to have an advantage in that department when it comes to grabbing them. You know, it's not like I'm going to be overwhelmed by his strength. With Wonderboy and his speed at his technique and his footwork,

There's really, there's nobody I've ever gone with on the feet that feels like him. And so to just know that I have that, you know, gives me such confidence against anybody. Just, you know, it's just, you know, for standing. Yeah, absolutely. I know I asked you this question before the Ackmadov fight as you were coming back to middleweight, but now it feels even more relevant because fighting another guy in the top 15 in your eye, Hall and as you mentioned, you know, as you kind of get back into title contention, you know, things change so quickly, so rapidly all the time.

You know, kind of give me your thoughts on where the middleweight division stands right now because it is, it is kind of strange with, without Asanya coming back after the loss of Blahovic and, you know, no shame in losing the Jan Belhovic, but, you know, right now it still feels like, you know, there's not a long list of guys that he hasn't already fought and beaten. He was calling for Darren Till, who, you know, you know, hadn't won a fight. He was going to be on a one-fight win streak, you know, calling for a title. shot. So obviously that puts you in a good position, but kind of where do you think this

division stands? Because it's kind of a weird time right now with where we're at with the champion versus the contenders. Yeah, it's kind of weird. You know, he went up and lost, and now he's coming back down. It's so weird. It's definitely a little bit of a weird situation. I don't know if he really seemed too much. I remember when Anderson Silva would go off to 205, you know, he'd fight like a Stefan Bonner. And I actually put him to, I fought him when he came back down, that next fight after he fought, Stefan Bonner, he would be winning. So to have a champion go up and lose and then come back down, he's still the champion. And now, you know, that confidence that a champion usually wears is now just tainted a little bit, which is just different.

I still think Israelisani is, you know, he's a great fighter, great stand-up, great distance control. His faints are great. He is, he's a great chess player on the feet. for sure. I just really want to make a statement in this fight that, you know, a guy like Israel at Asana, like, I'm built for it to beat guys like that. Like I really am. He's another Anderson Silva, in my opinion. You know, he's a younger, he's a younger Anderson Silva.

And Israel is very good with his strike, and he's very quick, but his weakness is that he's not that strong. You know, I'll grab him, and he's going to feel like it's Blackwoods grabbing him, you know, and then you had my jiu-jitsu in there with my wrestling. It's fun, and I don't want to get ahead of myself, because I got a lot of work to do before that happens, but that, my end goal is that. I want to fight him. I love that people think he's as good as they think he is, you know, and I do think he's good, but I just know I have what it takes to beat him. I like those challenges. I like to beat people that people think I can't beat. I know. I know. I got work ahead of me.

It's not happening next fight or even maybe the next fight of that. But I'm going to do my best to show people that that's the fight that they would want to see. Yeah. It's funny you mentioned that. I remember one of our interviews, like I think it was before the Eggmanoff fight. Yeah, I did something on you talking about, you know, you were kind of like the stylistic nightmare for Adasania. And a lot of people wanted to give you crap about that because at that point you were just coming back in middleweight. Obviously, you had the loss to Reyes.

And be like, oh, man, you know, why has Chris Weiband? think he's the best matchup for, for Adasanya. And I think we saw it with the Blahovych fight, a guy that can, you know, move him around and clinch with him. And obviously, Blahovic is a big guy, but he's not the pedigree of a wrestler or a grappler that you are. And that's not a knock on yon. That's just a compliment to your wrestling background and your grappling background.

But, like, that is kind of like what you were talking about. The things that you knew you could do to Israel, Adasania, we saw Blahovic do. Yeah. Yeah. And I did that day that is people, out there. They'll laugh at that at this point, but they just don't know the truth. And my goal is to, you know, I'll shut them all up and let them all see that very soon. Yeah, absolutely. I got to ask

you real quick before I get you out here, Chris. You're going to be fighting in the first UFC card back with fans. It's going to be a little bit bizarre to actually have fans again after a year and some change without having anything. Now, you only had the one fight during the pandemic, but are you excited for that aspect of this one? I am so excited for this. I usually couldn't care less what kind of card I'm on, and, you know, whether it's a pay-per-view or whether it's whatever, you know, how big it is or what arena I really don't care. But for this, I am super excited for.

It's just such a historic event. First time of any sport to be back full capacity. You know, I get to be on the main card. And I know there's going to be a lot of eyeballs. And that's what I, you know, I'm in this for is to put on a show. and to show my work and my art. Absolutely. I'm so excited, man.

I'm excited to have fans and to feel that energy and not to just hear Longo slow clapping as we do the walk out. I love it. I love it. I love it. Last thing before I get you out of here, Chris, I'd be remiss because I saw you talk about it on Twitter. I so rarely get to talk wrestling with guys,

And obviously your focus has been on your own fight, but I assume you watched the Olympic trials last week, and I know everyone was kind of stunned to see what happened to Jordan Burroughs. What do you think about our Olympic team this year? Man, we got a good Olympic team. All those guys are problems. I was upset. You know, Gilman did a great job of, you know, just being so strong, you know, lightweight Gilman beating Vito. Vito is a Long Island guy. I know his dad real well, Bogar.

so obviously I was rooting for him, but Gilman's going to be a tough shot for anybody. Jordan Oliver is another Kurt Bull in there who has been around for a long time. He was wrestling in college when I was wrestling in college, and look at him, he's making an Olympic team now. He, I mean, to take out, you know, for Yanni, you know, being the same weight classes,

guys like Yanni and to be able to, and he's lost to Yonni before and then push through, and I think he's going to be a problem on the international level. And then, you know, Snyder, the Jaden Cox thing kills me. The fact that whatever happened with Jaden Cox makes me really upset because he is so good. And Kyle Snyder obviously is so good, but I wanted to see that match. I really wanted to see, I don't know if you follow me.

You follow up with him like that or not? Oh, yeah, no. I was actually looking forward to that one because Jaden Cox beat Kyle Snyder in their freshman year at college when he went for the NCAA title his first year. Caden Cox beat him in the final. So I was really looking forward to that rematch. Yeah, man, me too. And Cox has just been looking so good.

And I heard it was super weird what happened with him and the wayans. It's not like he didn't make weight traditionally. It was like a weird misunderstanding or something. So that pisses me off that he doesn't, that he's not getting a shot at this. Yeah, well, all and all, obviously I felt bad for Jordan Burroughs because he is, he is, is a guy on and off the mat who I look up to and he's done so much for the sport and he's so good. But Kyle Dake, I'm happy for him, man.

He's, he's been, he's right there. And I honestly, I think he wins the Olympics pretty handily. So we just got, we have some great guys. And I think we're going to, I mean, I was just hoping they will perform on the day that matters. Yeah, I think there's a couple of gold medals in there, honestly. I mean, I know Kyle's going to be, you know, obviously a pretty solid favorite to at least get to the finals.

But I think there's a couple of gold medals in there. I mean, I think Kyle Dake's got a great shot. And I think there could be a couple of upsets in there as well. You can see a couple more goals. I think there's a chance for a couple good goals in the Olympics this year. Yeah, I agree. And even like David Taylor and Jordan Oliver, if he could wrestle consistently, if he wrestled the way he wrestled in the trials in the Olympics,

he's winning the goal too. And, like, I don't feel like on the Olympic level he's really known like that, even like a Yanni. I don't think he's beat the top guys yet, but he is so good. I think almost every one of the guys is capable of winning the goals. Yeah, Gable Stevenson there. Look at that guy. That guy's a beast, too, man.

Gabor Stevens is a freaking beast. Oh, yeah. I left him out. Yeah. He's unbelievable. Yeah. He does the open backflip again. Good team this year.

It's a good team this year. really good team well uh chris i appreciate the time as always my man i appreciate you taking the time obviously safe train these last couple weeks man safe travels out to jacksaville uh glad everything is well with you and i appreciate you doing this as always man thank you man i appreciate it have a good one talk to you soon take care bye bye bye you're listening to the vox media podcast network