Morning Report: Luke Rockhold thinks he will force Chris Weidman to move up to 205

Luke Rockhold certainly doesn’t lack for confidence.

In December, Rockhold unseated UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, stopping him with strikes in the fourth round and taking the belt. A rematch was announced as the main event of UFC 199 and as part of their media obligations, the 2 fighters have been doing press appearances together. Wednesday evening Rockhold and Weidman made an appearance on Fox Sports Live, sitting down with Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole to talk about their upcoming title fight.

“[Chris] seems a bit lost,’ Rockhold said. “I don’t know if you’re seeing the same things I’m seeing but it’s pretty obvious. You never know what day of the month with Chris, if he’s gonna be on his period or not…You never know how this roller coaster is gonna go.”

Rockhold seemed to be making a concerted effort to get under the skin of Weidman but to Weidman’s credit he never seemed too put off. Instead of engaging in ad hominem attacks on Rockhold, Weidman seemed focused on discussing the parameters of the fight itself and how things have changed.

“Right now I’m feeling okay,’ joked Weidman. ‘I had some cramps during the Unstoppable event so that might have you know, went into something, got a little emotional. But he’s right, I’m not used to losing. I didn’t lose for seven years. I was undefeated. I couldn’t imagine losing. So to lose the belt is different for me and weird and I take it very seriously and I take it personal and I get emotional when I think about it. So I can’t deny what he’s saying.

“Am I lost? No. I’m actually more focused than I’ve ever been in my life right now. You learn more, I think, from adversity than if everything was going smooth. So right now I’m on a path to become a way better fighter than I ever would have been if I would have won that fight. My potential is gonna be reached.”

Rockhold was having none of that, interjecting during Weidman’s statement to say that Weidman would reach his potential “at 205,” not at middleweight. Weidman laughed this off.

“Oh you’re saying that’s the future you see for me?” replied Weidman. “I’m gonna fight you and I’m gonna be like ‘you know what, 185 is tough. Luke is that good. Luke is so good I just can’t be a champion here. I have to go to 205.’ Is that what you’re doing?

“…He’s trying to trick himself into believing that that was the real Chris Weidman, that he felt everything that I had and I want him to think that…I went in there to win and I lost. There’s no question. Now, was my preparation where it needed to be, was I 100% prepared and was I in a good spot? Not at all.”

Weidman has stated several times that going into their last bout he wasn’t as prepared as he needed to be which effected his performance on fight night. He also fought with a broken foot which he believes severely hampered his ability. In response Rockhold has maintained that Weidman’s injuries didn’t effect the outcome of the bout and that he himself was suffering from illness coming into the fight. Rockhold remains supremely confident he will win the rematch, retelling a story of how he has trained in front of Weidman’s management.

“[Chris’s team] came in, one of their top kickboxers and we sparred their kickboxer, I sparred their kickboxer. And I like to take jabs and I said I sparred their world champion kickboxer right in front of his management, his team. Because I don’t have anything to hide. I will show everything I have. I would love for you to study me and try to understand it and try to beat me…And I sparred him right in front of them and I looked back at them and said two rounds. He goes down in two. And that’s all I said…You call it cocky shit but it’s the truth. Second round Chris. Second round,” Rockhold said.

Weidman seemed slightly disdainful of Rockhold’s braggadoci but, ever the diplomat merely offered, ‘I’m getting my hand raised that night, I’m getting my belt back. And I’m …

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