Lyoto Machida Believes Chris Weidman Is Ready To Stand & Strike With Vitor Belfort

UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman will look to make the third defense of his title at UFC 181, against the third ex-champion on the bounce-Vitor Belfort. Having already defeated Anderson Silva twice, and Lyoto Machida, ‘The All-American’ is building quite a formidable record.

Of the previous names, ‘The Dragon’ undoubtedly pushed the champion furthest. The two fought for 25 minutes at UFC 175, with both men coming close to being finished with strikes. Speaking with MMAFighting.com , Machida says that the champ is ready to trade punches with ‘The Phenom’ at UFC 181:

“Weidman is ready to fight anywhere, If he has to stand, he will. Vitor can obviously land a punch and end this, that’s what makes this sport so captivating, but I think he will be ready to fight him there. It’s a good fight for both. They both stand a chance. We can’t underestimate either of them,”

The common opinion is that Weidman should look to wrestle the more dangerous striker Belfort, and avoid chancing a knockout loss early on. Machida is well qualified to judge on the fighting style of the champ, but will ‘The All-American’ be willing to roll the dice on the feet against ‘The Phenom’?

“Weidman has evolved a lot, has a big heart. Vitor is super talented, also evolved a lot, and is an athlete that works hard. When you have such a close fight like that, when it’s hard to break down, it’s hard to predict a result. I think Vitor has a better chance in the first round and the first half of the second round because of his characteristics,” he said, “but after that, I think Weidman’s chances are better than Vitor’s.”

Since beating the former middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva, a lot of people have been touting Weidman as the new generation of fighter; an athlete that is proficient in all areas of MMA, and a win over Belfort may just prove those people right. Silvax2-Machida-Belfort would be a very impressive start to what could become a legendary career.

Although TRT has somewhat smeared the hype for UFC 181, you can’t deny that ‘The Phenom’ is still very dangerous. I can’t imagine he would take this fight if his body wasn’t up to it, but I may be wrong. Will Weidman’s workman-like aggression win the day, or will the old dinosaur prove that age is but a number?