Video: UFC champ Chris Weidman glad 'Jacare' Souza thinks he can beat him

Chris Weidman wants to dominate his opponents. But he’d much rather dominate guys with a little pep in their steps.

Weidman (12-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) defends his middleweight title against Vitor Belfort (24-10 MMA, 13-6 UFC) at UFC 181 on Dec. 6 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

But he’s also got a target on his back from Ronaldo Souza. Even before Souza dominated Gegard Mousasi earlier this month at UFC Fight Night 50, “Jacare” was saying he knew he could beat Weidman.

When MMAjunkie asked Weidman about that before the fight in Connecticut, where he was onhand as an observer, Weidman said he’d much rather have opponents who were confident.

“I want people to believe they can beat me, because that’s going to make for a bigger fight and a tougher challenge,” Weidman told MMAjunkie. “I really think Lyoto Machida believed he was going to beat me (at UFC 175, and that’s why I think it was an exciting fight. The more guys who truly believe they’re going to win and aren’t mentally defeated, that’s what I want. I don’t want to just run over people because they don’t believe in themselves. I want to dominate guys who believe in themselves.”

Check out the video above, in which Weidman also talks about his potential to coach on “The Ultimate Fighter” at some point down the road. Then don’t miss UFC 181 this December on pay-per-view.

For more on UFC 181, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.