Serra Supports Weidman's Bid To Fight Silva
Posted on 29 Jul 2012
by MMAScoops.com Staff

Matt Serra recently spoke with MMAjunkie about Chris Weidman's bid to be Anderson Silva's next fight and more. Check out the highlights:

On Weidman: "If you go back, I did a video blog ages ago. He was getting ready for a local fight and I was getting ready for a fight with I think Chris Lytle or something. I said, 'This kid's gonna be champ one day. You'll be watching these video blogs saying, 'Hey, I said it.' It's not that I'm a genius. I'm no Nostradamus. I just think this kid is that talented. When he's up here saying he wants Anderson Silva, he's not doing it for just a paycheck. He's doing it because he truly believes he can beat and finish Anderson Silva. He has the same approach to sparring, to rolling. He wants to – you want to spar with this guy, this guy's tough – he wants to feel it. I believe he will be champion."

On whether Weidman can beat Silva: "Chael is similar in a sense to Chris. Chris is just a little younger and he's a stud. Submission wise, he's a freak. You're talking about a kid who went to Abu Dhabi [Combat Club grappling tournament] after six months of training, and he's battling it out with black belts over there. He's that good. He really is. For people to not think so, or think maybe he's not ready, look what he's done so far. Look at the guys who Mark Munoz fought."

On Weidman's win over Mark Munoz: "That's two rounds. If he's ever put in a bad position, he can persevere. You didn't really get to see that. The closest you got would be the [Demian] Maia fight because he had no gas tank. He had no training for that fight. That alone speaks for itself. He got the ‘W,' but he might have got some criticism because he looked a little flat and this and that. What do you expect? That's how you look if you don't train. You jump off the couch and took a fight. He manned up and he did it [on 11 days notice]. This is what he looks like when he has a camp, you know?"

On training Weidman: "It's the circle of life like 'The Lion King. I'm an older guy; I've been in the game a long time, me and Longo. Longo worked 1,000 corners, including mine. He brought me up to the championship. In this game, experience is just so crucial. Not just as fighter, but as corner guy, as a coach, as a trainer. You get a guy as talented as Chris and you get some guys who think they know what they're doing, it's a recipe for a good thing."