Common opponent Mark Munoz, a top 10 middleweight in the UFC, favors 185-pound champion Chris Weidman over friend/occasional training partner Lyoto Machida at their UFC 175 matchup in July.
"The Filipino Wrecking Machine" briefly touched on the subject on Wednesday's edition of UFC Tonight.
Mark Munoz says that Chris Weidman has the overall advantage over Lyoto Machida in their fight
— UFC Tonight (@UFCTonight) March 26, 2014
Munoz fought Weidman at UFC on Fuel 4 back in July 2012, getting utterly dominated in the first round before getting knocked out cold with a standing elbow early in the second frame.
The Team Reign Training Center fighter, who is 1-2 in his past three fights, most recently lost to Machida at UFC Fight Night 30 in October.
Munoz was stopped with a brutal headkick about three minutes into the bout, and the matchup marked the middleweight debut of Machida, a former UFC light heavyweight titleholder.
The former two-time Division I All-American wrestler looks to get back to his winning ways when he squares off with ex-Strikeforce/Dream champ Gegard Mousasi at UFC Fight Night 41 in May.
Coincidentally, "The Dreamcatcher" most recently lost to Machida at UFC Fight Night 36 last month, coming up short in a hard-fought, 25-minute affair.
Weidman vs. Machida was originally scheduled to headline UFC 173 on May 24, but the bout was pushed back to Fourth of July weekend when the champ suffered a knee injury, per UFC.com.
The undefeated (11-0) New York native enters the bout on the strength of two consecutive victories over longtime middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva.
After a 3-3 run since losing the light heavyweight strap in May 2010, Machida is 2-0 since shedding an extra 20 pounds to test the waters at middleweight.
Is Munoz right on the money in stating that, on paper, Weidman has the edge over "The Dragon," or does Machida truly own the upper hand when it comes down to the stats?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
