Chris Weidman has doubled down on his stance of Israel Adesanya being overrated.
Following Israel Adesanya’s victory over Anderson Silva in the main event of UFC 234, Chris Weidman had some uncomplimentary thoughts about Adesanya and his performance, branding the undefeated rising star as “overrated.” Adesanya took offense to the comment, and his retort was tantamount to a, “No, you are!” Indeed, Chris Weidman has lost four of his last five bouts, but part of that, according to Weidman, is because of the competition that he has faced that Adesanya has not:
“Listen, he’s exciting to watch. He’s got good standup,” Weidman began in an interview with MMACrazyTV.com before the double-down. “But I was just being honest. He hasn’t fought one top-five guy yet. He fought Anderson Silva at 43 years old and had a decent, close fight with him. He was a minute 700-something favorite. So based on the odds, he was a tad bit overrated, because that ended up becoming a pretty close fight.”
Chris Weidman holds not one, but two victories over Anderson Silva that did not go to the judges’ scorecards, and both victories came when Silva was in his prime. To see Adesanya in a tightly-contested battle that went to a decision does not make Adesanya a bad fighter, but Weidman argues that if one is to look strictly at the odds relative to the performance, Adesanya would have to be considered a “bit” overrated:
“He’s good,” Weidman said. “He could end up being really good. But as far as right now, I consider him a little bit overrated. He hasn’t beat one top-five guy yet. I fought 11 top-five guys in a row.“
Do you agree with Chris Weidman? Is Israel Adesanya a “little bit” overrated?
