UFC 210's Chris Weidman wants to recapture championship glory 'more than anything'

Despite being at the lowest point of his professional career, Chris Weidman still holds a conviction that he will one day again become UFC middleweight champion.

Weidman (13-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) was once considered among the most dominant fighters in the sport. He started his career on a 13-fight winning streak, including four consecutive UFC title-fight victories, but is now on a two-fight slump with his back against the wall heading into next month’s UFC 210 showdown with Gegard Mousasi (41-6-2 MMA, 8-3 UFC).

Almost every elite MMA fighter has experienced setbacks in the form of losses. How an athlete moves on is a defining quality, though, and Weidman said his rebound will be one that goes all the way back to the top.

“My goal is to get that championship belt around my waist again – that’s what I want more than anything,” Weidman said on the extended preview show for UFC 210. “You can’t get there without taking it one fight at a time. If I didn’t think I could beat everybody in this division, I wouldn’t be fighting. I just would be done. I feel like I’m the best fighter in the world, and I’ve got a good guy in front of me to be able to prove it.”

UFC 210 takes place April 8 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y. Weidman vs. Mousasi co-headlines the pay-per-view main card following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Weidman, 32, might be on a two-fight skid, but his losses came against arguably the two best 185-pound fighters out there. Yoel Romero stopped Weidman by third-round knockout at UFC 205 in a fight “All-American” was likely winning until the finish. Before that, he dropped the UFC belt to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194 in a competitive bout that had a decisive ending.

To falter twice in a row after steamrolling so many opponents to start his career was understandably a difficult moment for Weidman. He said he digested it all in the right way, though, and once his focus became centered on Mousasi, his confidence returned.

“Losing is part of life,” Weidman said. “It’s something that you always have to be able to handle. I’ve just got to get back on the horse and keep on working.”

Weidman, No. 5 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings, may be entering UFC 210 at a down point, but for No. 7-ranked Mousasi, it’s quite the opposite. The former Strikeforce titleholder has been outstanding of late by winning four consecutive fights and six of his past seven overall.

“The Dreamcatcher” has campaigned for a marquee fight that will lead to his own championship aspirations, and Weidman said he was happy to take on the challenge of standing in the way. Moreover, he said a win would take away all of Mousasi’s recent momentum and put it on himself.

“Once we decided I was fighting Mousasi, we were very excited,” Weidman said. “It’s a great matchup for me. He’s a tough guy, very experienced. He’s on a nice win streak, so I think this fight is the better fight for me to push myself right back in title contention.”

Although Weidman and Mousasi would both like to be fighting for UFC gold sooner rather than later, the reality of the situation shows that’s unlikely to happen. UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping is currently slated to fight Georges St-Pierre sometime this year, and where the winner goes from there remains a mystery.

Even if Bisping or St-Pierre were to defend against the next top contender, both Romero and Ronaldo Souza are almost certainly ahead of Weidman or Mousasi in the title shot pecking order. Nevertheless, Weidman believes he can change the conversation by delivering the type of performance he knows he’s capable of at UFC 210.

“I go out there and dominate Mousasi, and they can’t deny it,” Weidman said. “I’ll be fighting for the belt again.”

For more on UFC 210, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.