Nassau Coliseum - Long Island, New York
Saturday, July 22
Chris Weidman +145
At 185, Kelvin has beat Uriah Hall (13-8) Nate Marquardt (38-18-2) and Tim Kennedy (18-6), solid opponents but not exactly world beaters. I don’t put too much stock in Gastelum’s vacated win over Vitor, considering it’s post-TRT Belfort. Weidman has been finished in 3 consecutive fights but all 3 have come from the best in the game (Rockhold / Romero / Mousasi). Both Gastelum and Weidman are wrestlers, so they will find it tough for each other to turn this into a grappling match so most likely they will be forced to strike and IMO Weidman’s striking is better than that of Gastelum’s. Weidman should be highly motivated coming into this one, besides literally fighting in his own backyard, another loss really puts him in a bad spot, and it wouldn’t be shocking if the UFC released him.
Saturday, July 22
Chris Weidman +145
At 185, Kelvin has beat Uriah Hall (13-8) Nate Marquardt (38-18-2) and Tim Kennedy (18-6), solid opponents but not exactly world beaters. I don’t put too much stock in Gastelum’s vacated win over Vitor, considering it’s post-TRT Belfort. Weidman has been finished in 3 consecutive fights but all 3 have come from the best in the game (Rockhold / Romero / Mousasi). Both Gastelum and Weidman are wrestlers, so they will find it tough for each other to turn this into a grappling match so most likely they will be forced to strike and IMO Weidman’s striking is better than that of Gastelum’s. Weidman should be highly motivated coming into this one, besides literally fighting in his own backyard, another loss really puts him in a bad spot, and it wouldn’t be shocking if the UFC released him.