Chris Weidman (photo via UFC/ YouTube)

By FCF Staff

Chris Weidman knows he has some work to do before he gets a chance to fight Israel Adesanya. But, the former middleweight champ’s confident he has the skill set to hand the star his first MMA defeat.

After moving up to light-heavyweight last September, and being knocked out by Dominick Reyes, Weidman is returning to middleweight for his next bout. While talking to MMA Fighting recently, Weidman had this to say about Adesanya, and how he matches up against the reigning champ.

“I think the guy’s super talented,” Weidman said. “He’s the new champion. He’s got the star power, and when I’m all said and done with my career, I really want to fight the best guys in the history of the middleweight division. I think I’ve done that, and Israel’s one of those guys I haven’t got to fight yet…”

“Obviously, I’m coming off losses,” Weidman said. “I don’t want to talk too much, but it is a really good matchup for me. Obviously, I got knocked out by Yoel Romero, and he didn’t, but I engaged a lot more. His other fights, if you compare my fight with Kelvin Gastelum, I pretty much dominated that fight and then finished him. I finished Anderson Silva twice, and he had a close fight with him, too.

“I just think matchup wise, everything is about matchups, and I think I’m a bad matchup for him. A guy who could get him down and control him. I’m very dangerous with submissions as well, and [I could] knock him out at the same time. I would love to get that opportunity, and right now I’m far away, at least in my eyes. I’ve got some serious work to do. But that is the end goal.”

Weidman (14-5) was booked to fight Jack Hermansson on May 2nd, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the card was postponed.

Adesanya (19-0) is expected to face undefeated contender Paulo Costa sometime later this year.