Weidman coach discusses move to 205 following ‘big setback’

Chris Weidman’s coach Ray Longo appeared recently on the Anik & Florian podcast and discussed The All American’s TKO loss to Jacare Souza, in a three round fight he was up two rounds on two judge’s scorecards.

It was a tough one to swallow, acknowledged Longo, as transcribed byJed Meshew for MMA Fighting. I felt really confident after talking to him in between the second and the third round that we were on our way to a victory. Those things that blindside you like that are tough. But first and foremost, hats off to Jacare. Class act. He dug down deep. He wasn’t gonna get that decision and he found a way to win. . . Man, you zig when you should’ve zagged and that’s what happens. MMA is an unforgiving sport. . .

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

The human brain sits comfortably inside the skull, but with age and dehydration, it shrinks, and when the skull moves suddenly, the brain bangs off the skull, and you can go out. Weidman has lost four of his last five fights via T/KO and in each, he was faring well. Longo says Weidman’s chin in solid in the gym, but in fights the recent record speaks for itself. So a move to 205 is under consideration.

Now he’s got a couple of things to decide, said Longo. 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. The brain is the last place to get the fluid when you rehydrate, so again, 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.

In an ideal world, the UFC would accept the Unified Rules weight divisions, and Weidman would move to 195, where he likely belongs.

Longo also addressed the highly controversial stoppage by Dan Miragliotta.

I’ve always been critical of Dan but I do think he wanted to give him every last effort to win, said Longo. The magnitude of that fight was pretty big. In my mind, I think he wanted to give him every last possible chance and I like that for my fighters. … He didn’t get hurt after that too much because Jacare’s a gentleman, so at the end of the day, it all worked out.

We’re in a f***ing crazy sport, man. If you’re even worried about it, I wouldn’t get into this sport. I’m always gonna say this: getting hit in the head is just not good for you. Ever. It’s not good. It’s just not good. So this is what we live with. These guys know the risks.”