Rockhold: Weidman is slow, slow, slow, slow, slow, slow

UFC middleweight Luke Rockhold spoke recently with Submission Radio, and expressed remarkable confidence ahead of his first UFC title shot. But then, who wouldn’t.

(He uses Winning brand gloves)

I’m not so much worried about Chris. We’re just focusing on myself and my attributes, my intangibles that he doesn’t have. He wants my speed, my athleticism and my overall game. I believe I have more cardio, I have more heart, more will, more technical in every aspect of the game I think.

“I respect his wrestling. I think he thinks it’s going to play too much of a role. It’s really gonna be…I’m gonna shut down his wrestling, I’m gonna open up every other hole in his game. I think he’s slow and he’s got he’s gotten by on his toughness and hiswrestling. I’m gonna be faster, I’m gonna hit him harder, and I’m gonna challenge him in ways he hasn’t [been challenged before]. I’m gonna put on a pace that he hasn’t felt before, and I’m not running from the man. Trust me. I’m gonna be hunting this guy down like I hunt every fighter down. You know, I hunt ‘em and then I bait them in. I hunt them and I bait them in. This is going to be no different, come 12th of December.

On the IV ban.

“I did the majority of my career without IVs. I’ve only been using IVs as of recent. But I’ve got my work cut down, pretty much to a scientific method. I’ve even taken the next step further, in hiring someone on to replenish me and to get my diet and everything right. So the weight will come off right.

I’ve never had much of an issue. Weidman seems to struggle. I mean you can see it. You know, weight cuts affect you later on in the fight too. Weidman has a hard time making it five rounds, and probably due to his lack of experience in a proper weight cut. I want the best Weidman. I don’t want any excuses about weight cut or nothing, so I want this guy to hopefully take the right steps and do the right thing so that we get the best fight possible for the fans.

On USADA testing.

Two days ago they showed up on my doorstep; showed up at 6:45am. I had no idea they would show up. So they called me, over and over again. And I was sitting there, and I kept turning off my phone like, who the fuck is calling me right now, ten time in a row at 6:45. And I finally picked up the phone like WHAT?! yelled at the phone, and he was like hey this is so-and-so from USADA, we’re at your doorstep right now. We’re trying to get in. I’m like, oh my god, these people are for real. So they came up [did a] blood test, piss test. So I feel comfortable with that. I like the fact that it happened. I mean, they invade your privacy a little bit, but for the better of the sport I’m open to it.

There was actually three agents. So they go through the process, depending on how long it takes for you to take a piss. They have a 20-minute waiting period where you need to be sitting down before they start taking any blood test. Unfortunately for me, I pissed, woke up at about five o’clock, sleep-walked to the pisser and dropped a big piss, so I couldn’t piss for quite a while. So I was stuck with them for about an hour at my place. But they’re alright. They’re okay people, just doing their job.

Rockhold nervous about engaging Weidman in striking, as he was with Machida?

I don’t like striking quickly off the bat with anybody. I like finding my timing and understanding my distance, and then engaging. I didn’t expect for a firefight so quickly with Machida. I think it was due to maybe his nervousness, but he was forced to engage quickly and try to catch me off guard. With Weidman, I expect him to come forward and push the pace in a kinda similar way. I’m gonna find my timing and defend his wrestling and his pressure, and then I’m gonna beat him and put my own pressure on him. So, you know, Weidman likes to strike quick. I think it might not be the smartest thing for him to come in too quickly in this fight. I can cut an angle and I can counter him. I’m not scared of Weidman. He’s fighting all these guys that are scared of his wrestling and letting him dictate the pace of the fight. I dictate the pace of my fights and no one else and like I said, same thing on 12th of the 12th.

Can Weidman show him anything in wrestling that he hasn’t seen before?

No. He’s not going to bring anything that I’m not used to. I’m a much higher level in the wrestling. I know he’s good on the feet, I know he’s good on the ground, but same thing as with Machida on the ground. I have a different level of speed and athleticism and funk, and he’s not going to keep up with me. If he wants to take it to the ground, he’s not going to be able to keep up. You know, it’s the same thing on the feet. I’ve just got those intangibles that he can’t keep up with, whether on the ground or on the feet, and that’s why I plan on exposing every weakness he has.

I think he’s a very tough guy. I think he’s gotten into this division at the right time. But it’s a new age and there’s a new crop of guys coming up that are on a different level than anyone he’s ever faced, and I’m leading the way. He’s in trouble.

People wanna say this is a close fight. I don’t see it as [a close fight] though. I think Chris is gonna be tough for a round, maybe two. I’m gonna run away with this fight and I’m gonna take the belt home. Another belt coming back to AKA. Chris is just too slow, he’s too slow, he’s too slow. That’s all I gotta say. He’s slow, slow, and he’s slow.

I’m going to shut Chris Weidman down in the first round. I’m gonna expose him in the second round. And I’m gonna finish him with a left kick, followed by a left punch, simultaneously.

Luke Rockhold fights Chris Weidman at UFC 194 on December 12, 2015 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.