By: Jesse Donathan
UFC on ESPN 6 is scheduled to take place Friday, October 19, 2019 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts live on ESPN 2 starting at 9:00 PM EST with a main event showcase between Dominick “The Devastator” Reyes (11-0, 6 KOs) and Chris “The All-American” Weidman (14-4, 6 KOs). The evenings co-main event will feature a rematch between Jeremy Stephens (28-16, 19 KOs) and Yair Rodriguez (12-2, 4 KOs), whose first bout ended in a wild no contest last month at UFC Fight Night 159 in Mexico City, Mexico after an accidental Rodriguez eye gouge rendered Stephens unable to continue.
In an October 15, 2019 The Schmo YouTube video titled, “Chris Weidman Feels a Striking Advantage over Dominick Reyes,” the former UFC middleweight champion was interviewed about his upcoming fight against the undefeated light heavyweight prospect Reyes. According to Weidman, when asked about how his body feels coming into his inaugural light heavyweight debut, “I honestly feel healthier than I’ve ever felt, not killing myself making weight anymore, that’s the reason that I moved up, to just keep my body healthy and not deplete myself,” said Weidman.
Photo Credit: UFC Twitter Account
The Schmo, who is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stagnant mixed martial arts media pool would go on to ask Weidman how the weight cutting was coming along for Friday night’s fight. According to the New York native, “There’s pretty much no weight cut at all, It’s been a joke compared to everything I’ve been used to throughout my whole career, so I’m just kind of like chilling, just kind of enjoying fight week, my little vacation, then I get to go in there and make a statement on Friday night,” the Serra-Longo Fight Team representative said.
“You’re fighting a guy who also wants to make a statement, he’s undefeated, he thinks he’s got a striking advantage against you, a lot of people are criticizing your chin man, what do you make of that,” The Schmo asked Weidman.
“I think if it was a striking match, I have the advantage to be honest. But unlucky for him, I also bring wrestling and Jiu-jitsu to the table to a level he’s never seen, he’s never even gone against a wrestler before and striking changes a lot when you have to worry about the takedown, and he’s going to have to worry about it, because the fact is, if I get on top, he hasn’t dealt with anything like that before, and it’s going to be … that’s a problem,“ Weidman said.
Speaking with Reyes in his October 15, 2019 YouTube video titled, “Dominick Reyes Comes Dressed To SCHMO,” The Schmo asked Reyes how he planned to get the win Friday night knowing Weidman wants to wrestle him. According to Reyes, “It’s simple man, stop the takedown, don’t let him try to wrestle me and knock him out man, put these hands on him, make him pay.”
“You moved back to California, working with “Hendo” Dan Henderson man with the wrestling, what have you been doing with him this fight camp,” The Schmo asked Reyes. “I’ve been wrestling with the man, man and he’s … catching a couple H-Bombs, so I know I got a chin on me, that’s for sure,” Reyes said of training with the legendary UFC and PRIDE champion.
Whether or not Weidman’s championship caliber skills translate over into the light heavyweight division is the big question coming into Friday night’s fight against a dangerous up and coming talent like Reyes, who is no walk in the park for a division where Weidman’s former middleweight nemesis Luke Rockhold was knocked out cold against Jan Blachowicz earlier this year at UFC 239 in July in his own light heavyweight debut. A matchup with UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones is potentially on the line for either fighter, upping the bounty for whoever emerges victorious Friday night. It’s going to be a fight you do not want to miss starting at 9:00 PM EST live on ESPN 2 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, tune in to catch all the action.