Luke Rockhold Vs Chris Weidman II – The Rematch

The middleweight rematch between Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman is set for UFC 230, which takes place on November 3rd. According to the odds on Paddy Power, Rockhold is favourite to once again defeat Weidman, at a price of 4/7.

A month prior to this clash will see the lightweight title match between Conor McGregor, who’s making his return to the UFC after two years, and the undefeated champions Khabib Nurmagomedov. Conor vs Khabib odds currently see the defending champion as the favorite.

Most people attempting to place a bet on the winner would find it to be quite a quagmire to step into. Rockhold and Weidman are two polar opposites not just in terms of how they operate inside the Octagon, but also outside of it. Rockhold came from a family of athletes and dropped out of college to turn fighting into his primary occupation. For Weidman, fighting happened as he helped trained MMA fighters with their wrestling. Besides this, he also holds a degree in psychology.

Since both individuals broke out and achieved stardom in the UFC, they have embraced lifestyles hinging on the opposite ends of the spectrum: Rockhold has fully immersed himself into celeb folklore, professionally modelling at the New York Fashion Week and being the new face of Ralph Lauren’s “Polo Blue” fragrance. His enchilada of companions of late has included the likes of Demi Lovato.

On the other hand, Weidman has settled into a more sedentary, family man-esque lifestyle. If you took a cursory glance at his profile on UFC’s official website, he spends most of his time being a consummate dad, watching cartoon shows with his kids in his spare time.

Neither the resultant celebrity status nor the rigours of family life have reduced the adroitness of these two competitors. However, they remain fierce and unflinching in their bid to rise to the top. In terms of fighting styles they couldn’t be any more different, with Weidman’s focus being more centered around wrestling techniques (being a two-time All American) and is considered to have the best takedown skills in the UFC, although his striking ability is not to be underestimated.

One could decide to hearken back to his bout with Anderson Silva, who is a legend in his own right, wherein he defeated Silva by TKO. This was when Anderson Silva was the Middleweight Champion, illustrating that Silva was at the top of his game at the time.

On the other hand, Rockhold has an amazing grasp of jiu-jitsu, an amazing takedown defense and most importantly, he’s a phenomenal striker. Rockhold has often edged past opponents relying on his superior conditioning.

Their last bout at UFC 194 earned them the “Fight of the Night” award and rightly so, given that it was the embodiment of all-out war. The sheer display of strength, conditioning and most importantly, the variety of fighting techniques on display made this bout extremely riveting and had a lot of purists analysing it for weeks.

Weidman made a good fight of it and never gave up, but found himself at an ironical psychological disadvantage against Rockhold’s jiu jitsu. He landed a few hard shots and tried to take Rockhold down aplenty, but often found Rockhold using his height and superior conditioning and physical shape to come out on top — quite literally.

Once Rockhold managed to mount Weidman, it was all Rockhold. Rockhold relentlessly clubbed Weidman, who was quite motionless by the end of it, partly due to exhaustion and partly because Rockhold still had plenty left in the tank. It was an impressive showing by the new champion, and it also ended Weidman’s undefeated streak as champion. While Weidman would often show glimpses of his potency, Rockhold’s array of guillotine chokes and jiu-jitsu skills often forced Weidman to give up guard and endure dangerous levels of punishment from the Californian.

One could say that after such a hellacious kerfuffle, a rematch was well overdue. A rematch was scheduled to take place on June 4, 2016 at UFC 199 but was scrapped due to Weidman pulling out with an injury.

He was replaced by Michael Bisping, who came into the match as an underdog and caused one of the biggest upsets in MMA history by defeating Rockhold. The wait seems to be over, with the reprisal scheduled to take place on November 3rd at UFC 230. Rockhold and Weidman are placed at number 4 and 5 of the MMA Middleweight rankings respectively.

The backdrop is remarkably different this time though; Weidman hasn’t fought in a year, in stark contrast with the time when he was undefeated and carried massive momentum going into UFC 194. He suffered three consecutive defeats upon returning in the aftermath of his defeat to Rockhold and ended the slide against Gastelum.

Rockhold lost his title within a mere six months to Bisping at UFC 199, and after spending 15 months out of the Octagon, returned to stop David Branch with a second-round TKO. At UFC 221, however, he lost to Yoel Romero in the third round, the same man who had defeated Weidman upon his aforementioned return.

All in all, one can expect a compelling spar between these two pugnacious competitors. They might not be carrying a lot of momentum going into this fight, but going by how explosive their bout at UFC 194 was, this should be an equally, if not more, tantalizing affair.