Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold won't be getting it on until a couple of more months but the trash-talking has begun.
While such is only typical in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) world, Weidman cannot take Rockhold for granted. While the champion has said that he intends to give Rockhold a beating, it was only a matter of time that Rockhold would issue his firing shots as well.
Appearing at the MMA Hour recently, Rockhold seems not intimidated at all by the remarks of the champ, who claims that he cannot see himself losing to the challenger.
And from the looks of it, Rockhold has a strong point. Considering that the American mixed martial-artist has been impressive in his last four fights and has conquered big names like Lyoto Machida and Michael Bisping, Rockhold is someone that Weidman cannot take lightly.
With that said, it may take more than words to see Weidman pulling through.
Of course, Weidman prides himself with some wrestling expertise together with some dangerous striking as well. But the question is — will he be able to find out the proper tactic to fend off the former Strikeforce middleweight champion?
The worst thing that Weidman can do right now is to become overconfident. It seems, however, that Rockhold knows better and figures that all is part of the mental preparation that Weidman has in mind. And for that, he is ready, although he promises to surprise Weidman come December.
Based on his interview with MMAFighting.com, it looks like Rockhold knows what Weidman's game plan is. Has the challenger calculated all the tactics Weidman has up his sleeve?
In the end, it seems that Rockhold is equally confident of winning over Weidman. So it may all boil down to the game plan of both fighters, something that can back up all that talk.
The tiff is one of the events in store for UFC 194, which is set to take place at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas on Dec. 12. Check out Rockhold's interview with MMAFightingonSBN below.
