No one knows whether Anderson is truly serious about taking most of 2013 off. If/when he does fight, it seems that the most likely opponent will either be Bisping (if he beats Belfort) or GSP (less likely). In the meantime, it would be a shame for Weidman to sit out a year waiting for a title shot that may not come. While many (including himself) have made a case for him being a #1 contender, there has been enough said to the contrary, citing his wins over Maia and Munoz to be unimpressive for various reasons. I believe that to truly solidify his status as the #1 contender, he needs one more win, over a well-rounded guy who has proven to be a mainstay in the division. I believe Okami is a perfect match - he is 12-4 in the UFC, and while you can make the argument that his win record is laden with guys like Starnes, he did beat Munoz, Marquardt (awful fight), and Belcher (twice), and only lost to Franklin, Sonnen, Anderson and Boetsch (amazing comeback by Tim in a fight that Yushin was dominating). What do you guys think?
I don't know if I'd make that fight as the UFC Okami would have a real chance of outpointing Weidman and Okami obviously isn't getting another shot at the belt unless he spinning heel kicks someone's head off Weidman/Lombard is the fight to make here
Not really interested in it, rather see Weidman vs Lombard or Weidman vs Belfort if Belfort beats Bisping and Stann vs Wand winner can get Lombard.
Fuck Vitor and Okami. They should just give Bisping and Weidman their shots already so they can get finished by Andy, and then they can make Silva/Jones or GSP. The UFC has pretty much lost almost all of it's integrity, so who gives a shit, right?
Okami should fight Philippou. Okami tests Philippou's grappling and if Philippou passes the test he gets to test Okami's striking. Same goes for Weidman vs. Lombard, except in this fight I don't know who will be testing what. Lombard is more dangerous on the feet imo.
This. Normally I would like to see Okami vs Weidman. But the chance of losing another contender is just to big. Even though I see Weidman beating Okami.
How many Okami-Weidman threads so far??? 30??? Is it you Joe Silva feeling us on that match up?? FINE BRO! MAKE IT HAPPEN..DON'T BE SCARED HOMIE!
I disagree that people 'questioning' (see 'attempting to discredit') his wins should have any bearing on his contender status. But if the reality is he's not getting a shot, he should beat whoever he can to get where he wants to be.
I would do Weidman vs. Bisping/Belfort winner for the title shot, but Anderson's had to wait a long time.
Exactly, Lombard and weidman are really mw only interesting fights for silva. Bisping is a fight I'm not even a little interested in seeing and the rest are rematches. I would really like to see them both get a title shot soon.
Because there are others like Rockhold that are going to fill that void when they come over, and because in either case you get an interesting fight for Silva, especially since the UFC is clearly trying to get Bisping in first. If Bisping wins, Lombard/Weidman is a good match to make, if he loses then I think they go in another direction since they need to line both those guys up for title shots. Okami/Weidman is just begging for an upset and the loss of probably one of the most interesting potential MW challengers. Yushin Okami is already a guy who is historically tough to look good against, has shown decent boxing and good takedown defense throughout his career. I think Weidman would run him over, but there's a chance that he goes in there and loses that fight and then you torpedo your chances of getting probably the best fit fighter at that weight to fight the champ, and a potential star into a title shot.
Weidman needs two good wins before being in title contention. Okami can be one of them or he can show Weidman his level. Weidman has fought no one currently unless you're one of those who had Munoz down as MW Fedor for some bizarre reason.
Here's the thing: You can't match Okami up against anything other then a top guy. And name another top guy more likely to beat Okami then Weidman. You can't.
Okami v Weidman is like someone saying, "I hate the fact Weidman is undefeated and I want to change it...."
That's a good point, Lombard does have a recent loss I still wouldn't put Weidman against Okami though, If Vitor beats Bisping, maybe they go that route? Lombard vs Vitor? As above, that's a fair point. You can always give Okami the treatment he's used to, taking on midlevel guys as an elite gatekeeper. I've thought Okami vs someone like Tim Kennedy would be a good fight, or the obvious choice is the Shields rematch. If anyone has to go through Okami to get a shot, Weidman is probably the best chance, so you're completely right in that regard. I personally wouldn't make the fight, but I can see where you're coming from.
