Chris Weidman’s Coach Addresses Potential Weight Class Change

Chris Weidman’s coach has spoken up about his latest fight. It was a tough loss as he was eyeing a title shot if he would’ve gotten his hand raised. Weidman lost to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in the co-main event of UFC 230. It was a crushing defeat for the former champion.

Now, he and his team are looking forward. This leads us to Weidman’s longtime striking coach, Ray Longo, talking about his future in an interview on the Anik & Florian podcast.

“I tell you, this is pretty big setback, because with a win over Jacare he was looking good. He already had beat Gastelum.”

Longo continued by stating that he thinks to face Robert Whittaker for the middleweight title would’ve been tough.

“I think that’s always gonna be a great matchup for Chris. Whittaker would have been the tougher fight but I actually think Gastelum is gonna beat Whittaker so I think he was looking good.”

Weidman has gone 1-4 in his last five outings. Before this fight, Weidman had been out of action for more than a year due to a thumb injury. He sustained the injury during his fight against Kelvin Gastelum in July 2017. Thus, a move to light heavyweight might be in his future.

“Now he’s got a couple of things to decide,” Longo said (H/T to MMAFighting). “A couple of people mention maybe moving up to 205. I really did think the weight cut went really well but who knows? The more you get the weight-cut down and your brain’s not dehydrated.”

Weidman’s coach added that due to his potential dehydration issues, moving up a weight class might be best for him right now.

“The brain is the last place to get the fluid when you rehydrate. Maybe 205’s a better fit because I don’t see this ever happening in the gym. Ever. So maybe 205 might be a place where he comes in stronger, more coherent, all those things.”