Anderson Silva - Chris Weidman rematch at UFC 168

Weidman-Silva 2 will take place on December 28th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena as the main event for UFC 168. The card is co-headlined by Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate, who will also be rematching after coaching against one another on the historic co-ed edition of The Ultimate Fighter.

Chris Weidman shocked the world at UFC 162 on July 6th by knocking out Anderson Silva in the second round. The rematch is expected to be one of the biggest pay-per-view draws in quite some time. The rematch will be very interesting because Weidman has the better ground game and wrestling takedowns, but now also has a knockout to his credit against Anderson Silva. It will be very interesting how Anderson fights in this rematch. Will he take a completely serious approach or go back to trying to clown his opponents and use a variety of head games to break their confidence and play his game. Silva has become legendary in mixed martial arts after his 16 fight unbeaten streak in the UFC which has included a record-setting 10 title defenses; but we have never seen him come back from losing a fight in the UFC. It will be one of his greatest challenges to date, as well as for Weidman, who actually predicted this whole scenario leading up to the first fight: he said he would defeat Anderson and then rematch him again later in the year.

Anderson Silva on UFC 162 Chris Weidman rematch: Trust me, I back

Sometimes it's not victories that so much define champions, but how they emerge front eh ashes after a loss. How will Anderson Silva respond to his loss to Chris Weidman and do in the rematch at UFC 168? Well, it's hard to say because he hardly ever loses. He has done just fine after losses in Pride FC to Daiju Takase and Ryo Chonan, but we have never seen Anderson Silva lose inside the UFC Octagon until he was knocked out by Chris Weidman.

Well, fighters definitely reveal who they are inside the cage. The cage or ring is a truth-telling instrument which reveals who a fighter is and what they're made of. For Anderson Silva, I feel it's not so much his incredible wins that showcased his character, but actually the fight where he had the toughest time in his career: against Chael Sonnen in their first fight. Anderson was down four rounds and was looking like it was over as he was getting pounded in the fifth against Sonnen. But despite the three hundred plus punches which rained on him and the adversity he was facing, Anderson Silva came back and found a way to win. That fight showed that not only does Anderson Silva have the championship skill, but the championship will and heart to take a beating but claw his way back and find a way to win.

Chris Weidman on the psychology of doubt and faith

Chris Weidman's psychology degree comes in handy for him in MMA. He has a very strong mental game and knows how to mentally get in the right state for peak performance and victory:  

You always have doubts that crawl up into your mind...I think one of the biggest parts of having a winner's mindset is to be able to deal with those doubts. Erase them out of your mind.

Chris Weidman on controlling the things that you can

Chris Weidman on hard work and luck

Chris Weidman on hard work:

I believe that when preparation meets opportunity, I guess that's what you consider luck; so it's just hard work.

Chris Weidman on confidence and hard work

Chris Weidman on the correlation between hard work and confidence:

It's all about confidence...And you're not always going to feel confident, but all that matters is when you step in that cage, when you touch those gloves, that you're confident. And I think that all literally comes from hard work. If you're not working hard every day, you're not going to feel like you really belong in there and deserve to win.

Chris Weidman on believing in yourself

11 minutes into this video Chris Weidman talks about self-confidence:

Believing in yourself at this stage of the game 99% of everything.

Chris Weidman on Winning in Sparring

Chris Weidman is a mild-mannered, polite, and respectful UFC middleweight champion, but he's highly competitive; which is one of the reasons why he's been able to reach the top of the mountain in mixed martial arts at 185. On ESPN's Highly Questionable with Dan Le Batard and Bomani Jones, Weidman explains how having a competitive nature in sparring translates into competing in the UFC Octagon:

In sparring I might have lost a round or two, but very rarely...I try to win every single freakin' round of every sparring session, I don't care who I'm going against. I'm very competitive and I know that translates into when you're in the Octagon performing.

Video: Rory MacDonald sparring with Chris Weidman

Video taken from UFC on Fox 8 "Road to the Octagon". The current UFC middleweight champion, Chris Weidman, sparring with a man looking to become the welterweight champ and one day move onto a secondary UFC title at middleweight as well, Rory MacDonald.




Quotes by Rory MacDonald
Quotes by Chris Weidman

Chris Weidman on Confidence and Working Hard

Chris Weidman notes that hard work breeds confidence, and confidence only matters when to step into the cage:
I work as hard as I possibly can every single day and it gives me the confidence...When you step into the Octagon, that's when you need to be confident.

Chris Weidman's Ultimate Goal in MMA

Once you reach the pinnacle of the sport of mixed martial arts and become a UFC champion, you have to continue to set new goals to stay hungry and motivated. That is what Chris Weidman is doing. It's something that Jon Jones has done in trying to become the record holder for having the most title defenses in UFC history at light-heavyweight. He has tied Tito Ortiz's record with five, and is looking to eclipse it at UFC 165 in Toronto when he defends his title against Swedish superstar Alexander "The Mauler" Gustafssson.

Additionally, you have Benson Henderson, the champion at 155, who has made it a goal to defend his title 11 times, which is one more time than Anderson Silva defended his. Keeping that goal in mind helps him stay motivated and excited for that new challenge.

Chris Weidman on Confidence and Mindset of being the best

One of the things you saw in Chris Weidman leading up to his fight with Anderson Silva was certain confidence and belief in himself. That faith carried over into his fight and allowed him to extend his unbeaten streak to 10, pull off an amazing knockout, and win the UFC title. It stemmed from confidence:

To be at the top of any sport you need to have a certain confidence about you, a certain mindset.

Chris Weidman on Confidence

Chris Weidman didn't look at Anderson Silva as a mythical and unstoppable force in mixed martial arts, but rather took an approach of dissecting and magnifying weaknesses in his game:

You don't like to put down people or like focus on people's weak points but to be a fighter, and to be a confident fighter, you have to. You have to see things that other people aren't really seeing and focus on those. That's what gives you the confidence.

Chris Weidman: The Truth Comes Out in Fighting

Chris Weidman on mixed martial arts fighting exposing who you are to yourself and others:
The truth comes out...I think when you fight you kind of find out who you are...

Something Frank Shamrock said in the past was that fighting is like baring your soul. Not an easy thing to do which is why it's paramount to show an immense level of respect for the athletes willing to have the courage to engage in this form of athletic artistry.

Georges St-Pierre's reaction on Chris Weidman KO over Anderson Silva

Georges St-Pierre is happy to see his friend Chris Weidman win the UFC title. GSP was one of the first fighters to come out and say that he thought Weidman would win, but definitely not in the way he did: via knockout. The superfight talks with Anderson and GSP is now down the toilet, but Pierre has immense respect for Anderson:

You always recognize great champions...how they come back from a loss. Silva came back from loss before and adversity in his fights and he's the greatest of all time for sure.  

Chris Weidman: Winning the UFC belt was my destiny

I strong believe in visualization and thinking from your goals, Chris Weidman really felt that winning the UFC middleweight title against Anderson Silva at UFC 162 was his fate. It was something that he envisioned happening from the very beginning of his career: dethroning Silva and winning the UFC title:
I imagined being in this situation over and over again since I got into MMA, this is my goal. I just felt like my destiny.

Chris Weidman on his mindset before UFC 162 fight with Anderson Silva

Chris Weidman on his mindset right before going into his fight with Anderson Silva at UFC 162 to win the UFC middleweight title:

I felt confident the whole time...I just really felt it was my time...If I didn't beat myself I thought I could win the fight.

Chris Weidman on Matt Serra on having good people around him

Chris Weidman on being thankful that he is surrounded by great people such as Matt Serra, Ray Longo, and Renzo Gracie:

I'm blessed to have amazing people around me... I'm blessed with great people who really want to see me succeed and I wouldn't be where I'm at without them.