Chris Weidman’s Giant Balls

Contributor: Tim Bernier

Did you hear? Two Saturdays ago, Anderson Silva went from doing his best Matrix impression to looking up at Herb Dean and Stitch Duran wondering what the hell just happened with one short left hook. Chris Weidman beat the best, and now he is the best.

Chris Weidman has seen Anderson Silva destroy Forrest Griffin. Anderson made Forrest look like he was punching underwater. Three quick dodges and a counter strike showed that Anderson was a step or seven ahead of Forrest. Weidman knew what he was going up against. So when Anderson started doing his feinting and mocking again, what did Weidman do? He kept walking forward. He stalked Silva. He patiently waited while Silva yelled and invited Weidman in to strike. Then he pounced. He barely connected on two of the first three punches of his combination, but there was a fourth coming that Silva wasn’t prepared for and it found its mark. Weidman knew what the result would have been if he kept missing Silva’s chin, but he charged in and took the belt regardless. But that’s not what this is about.

In the lead up to the fight, Weidman’s fight purse of $24,000 to show and $24,000 to win were quoted often. Comparisons were drawn to Silva’s fight purse in which he was set to receive $600,000 just to show and a percentage of the Pay Per View revenue. A UFC title challenger was only making a max of $44,000? How is that fair?

The UFC likes to extend fighters’ contracts when they have one fight left on the deal. The last fight on Chris Weidman’s contract was his title fight with Anderson Silva. Instead of extending his contract, in which he would have received a rather large bump up in pay, he decided to wait it out. Let that sink in. Chris Weidman was about to face the greatest of all time, and he was so confident in the fact that he was going to beat him that he didn’t even want to extend his contract, because “Chris Weidman: UFC Middleweight Champion” was going to fetch a hell of a lot more money than “Chris Weidman: Middleweight Title Challenger.” That one gamble is going to lock Weidman into a contract that can make him a very wealthy fighter. The difference between middle-upper tier and top tier pay in the UFC is remarkable. This is not to mention that now negotiating a contract as the champion allows Weidman to use his leverage in ways other than straight fight purse increases. Now he might be able to work in an immediate rematch if he loses to Silva during their rematch, like Silva was promised before the first fight. On the other hand, knowing Weidman, the thought of losing to Silva hasn’t crossed his mind.

Weidman didn’t just talk about beating Silva. He knew he would. He is going to cash in on a large payday because of it. He made it known that he was going to be the next champ, and he got it done like no other man could. He deserves every penny he makes.

-Tim can be reached @TimBernier31