Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold aren’t going to win any popularity contests.
Despite being among the very best of the UFC’s new generation of fighters, neither Weidman nor Rockhold has had much luck capturing the hearts and minds of MMA fans so far.
Evidence of this was everywhere in the lead-up to UFC 194, but nowhere more noticeable than the fact that on Saturday, their middleweight title fight will play a supporting role to Jose Aldo’s featherweight grudge match with Conor McGregor—not the other way around.
History dictates that when two championship fights appear on the same card, the heavier weight class takes top billing. This time, the UFC had no choice but to let Aldo and McGregor hog the marquee. Their beef and the bout to settle it promise to be a spectacle for the ages.
It’s an understandable choice—the fight company did the same thing to Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald at UFC 189—but it shouldn’t overshadow the fact that Weidman and Rockhold could be the most talented tandem ever to tangle for UFC middleweight gold.
Yes, that includes Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort at UFC 126.
Yes, it includes Silva vs. Dan Henderson at UFC 82.
It even includes Weidman’s title defense against Lyoto Machida at UFC 175 last July.
Fact is, I’m not sure the 185-pound weight class has ever seen two athletes the caliber of Weidman and Rockhold, let alone seen them together in the same cage at the same time.
These are two next-level specimens, the best of the best in their division, the pinnacle of MMA’s 22-year history in this country.
It’s just that neither one of them has been able to make people care about him yet.
Sure, they tried to get a little beef going before this bout, but nobody paid it much attention. We had Aldo and McGregor to think of and Weidman and Rockhold just came off as a couple of junior stockbrokers making a bet over a round of golf.
Ain't nobody got time for that.
Weidman vs. Rockhold has the makings of a classic fight but the build-up has been beyond boring.
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) December 9, 2015
Clearly this inability to connect has to fall more at Weidman’s feet than Rockhold’s. The New York native has been champion for going on 30 months now and hasn't seemed to garner a significant fanbase. He's defended his title three times, but the UFC has yet to let him main event a pay-per-view event without another title on the card as well.
It's not totally his fault, either. Weidman may not have the charisma of McGregor or even Daniel Cormier, but the icy reception he’s received from some MMA fans far outweighs what he deserves.
It’s just starting to feel like some of them are never going to forgive him for dethroning their hero.
Twice, Weidman was the better man inside the cage against old school middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva. He defeated the formerly unbeatable champion via shocking knockout at UFC 162 and then again at UFC 168 when Silva suffered a gruesome, career-threatening broken leg.
In doing so, Weidman categorically affirmed his status as the best middleweight MMA fighter in the world. It seemed to buy him nothing but scorn.
In their grief, Internet fanboys made as many excuses for Silva's demise as they did for Weidman's rise. Maybe somebody with a little more innate likability eventually could've dug himself out of that hole, but Weidman is not that guy. You get the feeling spoiling everyone's fantasy will always dog him a little bit.
Things got so bad that after taking out Belfort at UFC 187, Weidman used his time on the mic to half-beg, half-threaten fans to get on board.
"Stop doubting me," he said during his post-fight interview with UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. "It's enough. Stop doubting me. You better join the team now. This is my last invitation. Join the team."
Naturally, the plea fell on deaf ears.
Rockhold likewise hasn’t done much to endear himself to the masses. Granted, he’s had a more abbreviated opportunity, making five Octagon appearances since his debut in 2013. To date, much of the popular narrative around the former Strikeforce champion starts (and ends) with his looks.
And like a high school kid who might be a little too handsome for his own good, perhaps Rockhold just hasn’t tried that hard to impress us. Take a look at some of the work he did on Wednesday during the UFC 194 official press conference and see if it makes you want to spend $60 to watch him fight this weekend:
"I feel i have separated myself technically, mentally & physically" - @LukeRockhold #UFC194 https://t.co/2vX0ixwNna
— UFC (@ufc) December 9, 2015
Not so much, right?
The fact that Rockhold and Weidman have been such duds in the promotional department wouldn't be such a bummer if their fight didn't stand to be one we should remember for a long time.
Because this one is going to be good. Maybe instant-classic good. Possibly Dear-God-I-Hope-This-Is-The-Start-of-a-Trilogy good.
But don't take my word for it. Here's MMA Fighting.com's Chuck Mindenhall this week describing how Weidman's and Rockhold's toned-down personalities belie the violence that is to come:
Neither is all that great with a microphone, but both entomb profound confidence, the kind that reveals itself more in a cage than in social settings. Weidman, who earned a psychology degree from Hofstra, is never anything other than nonplussed ... If [his] sense of cool has a counterpart, it’s with Rockhold. We heard it on the media call when Rockhold listed, in casual detail, the things he was going to do to Weidman. His game plans are so purposefully transparent that they become deceiving. He wants you to know that he knows; he’s hoping that you knowing he knows becomes like pulling a loose thread to make the whole thing come undone.
Two cool masters of chaos in their prime. This has all the makings.
Weidman is going off as a slight favorite, according to Odds Shark, but the truth is nobody has the first clue what's going to happen.
The champion has been so good during his nine previous UFC outings that it’s tough to doubt him. Weidman’s forward pressure and nifty balance between striking and grappling have resulted in a 67 percent stoppage rate on the big stage.
Mostly, he’s just overwhelmed people.
But if there is anyone who seems up to the challenge of matching him physically, it’s Rockhold.
The 6’3” southpaw is a massive middleweight, and yet he moves around the cage like a much smaller man. Aside from a knockout loss to a testosterone-enhanced version of Belfort, he’s been flawless since hitting the major scene back in 2008.
Rockhold has been downright fearsome in most of his UFC bouts. Since the Belfort loss (which came in his Octagon debut) he's finished four straight fights. That includes April's shellacking of Machida in under two rounds. His striking arsenal has been impressive, his mobility impeccable and his submission game deadly.
So this fight represents that rare occurrence when perhaps two generational talents meet at the height of their powers on a stage as grand as they come. Weidman and Rockhold are so evenly matched, the outcome is anyone’s best guess.
But in order for this to be one MMA fans want to tell their grandkids about, these two fighters are going to have to develop into the kind of personalities that force people to care about them.
Because that battle is far from won.
