Dan Henderson is scheduled to fight Michael Bisping for the UFC Middleweight Title at UFC 204, and Chris Weidman is not happy about it.
Weidman appeared as a guest on the August 4 edition of “The MMA Hour live with Ariel Helwani” and, when asked about Henderson getting the title shot, he was said: “I think it’s kinda stupid, but I also don’t like complaining about something that’s already done.”
He goes on in the interview to give some credit to Henderson, saying that it will be cool for him to have a chance to retire with the belt, but makes it clear that he feels that the UFC is setting a dangerous precedent by offering this fight to Henderson. “It kinda takes away from working your way to fighting for the title. I can go through his stats, and his losses that he had recently, and I just don’t think he deserves it.”
The former UFC Middleweight Champion is hoping to be able to return to the UFC for their hallmark card at Madison Square Garden on November 12, although no fight for him has been announced at this time.
Analysis: You can really hear the frustration coming through for Weidman in this interview, and frankly its frustration that is being mirrored around the UFC at the organization appearing to put ratings in front of merit for title shots. We heard a similar sentiment from Steven Thompson at talks that Tyron Woodley’s first title defense should be against George St. Pierre or Nick Diaz as opposed to him, the more active fighter in recent memory. While it is understandable that the UFC wants to get the most bang for their buck with each championship fight, it looks bad to be ignoring these impressive young fighters they have on their roaster in favor of dimming stars like Dan Henderson.
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