Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman were together on Wednesday morning on ESPN SportsCenter as they make the media rounds for their UFC 199 rematch.
Rockhold, now UFC middleweight champion, took the strap from Weidman at UFC 194 in Las Vegas. He earned a fourth-round stoppage after viciously battering Weidman in the third round. The immediate rematch was made, and Weidman now has his shot at redemption.
The two rivals were mostly cordial in the interview, but the personality difference was most certainly noticeable.
Weidman was more reserved and honest about his shortcomings in the first meeting, whereas Rockhold was more relaxed and prodding with his comments.
The former champion mentioned he has changed up various aspects of his camp. The “All-American” said he switched to a 12-week camp for this fight so that they would have time to work around injuries should they arise and to focus on specific areas of weakness.
Rockhold was adamant this next fight would be stopped in the second round.
The newly minted champion called Weidman “emotional.” Perhaps the hardest barb to hit Weidman was when Rockhold said, “I've dedicated my life to this sport, you've dedicated your life to a family. You can't push as hard. You can't do what I do.” The line clearly got under the skin of Weidman.
Later in the interview, Rockhold said Weidman had no vision. Weidman pounced and quickly countered with, “This 'vision' he's talking about, I don't get it. He's really obsessed with this vision. He sees it all. I don't get it. You didn't see Vitor (Belfort) knocking you out.”
There is definite tension between the two top middleweights, and it will all come to pass again in a little under two months.
The rematch for the gold takes place at The Forum in Inglewood, California on June 4. Bleacher Report will keep you up-to-date with all the happenings surrounding the event.
