Weidman out of UFC 199. These Options Are Legit Challengers.

Written by A.G Lee

Looks like Chris Weidman has been removed from UFC 199 one of the more exciting cards that was on schedule for the year as he was set to take on Luke Rockhold in a rematch to get his belt back. Their first meeting ended in Chris Weidman receiving a near one sided beating as the co main event fight at highly successful UFC 194. Weidman promised to get his belt saying the first time was a fluke and he wouldn’t make the same mistakes in the rematch. Well it looks like we won’t get to see if he would hold to that promise, as he has been injured and will be out for the unforeseeable time being.

So with UFC 199 just about 2 weeks away, the UFC has options to fill in the gap left by the former champion. And those options are just about all worthy of a shot in their own way. Those options are Michael Bisping, Jacare Souza, Yoel Romero, and Derek Brunson. The only fighter in that list without a win streak being Jacare Souza as his last loss came to a grinding loss to the crushing wrestling of Yoel Romero.

Jacare Souza is coming off of an impressive TKO win over former UFC champion Vitor Belfort on the Brazilian stacked card of UFC 198. Souza was on a 5 fight winning streak before his loss to Romero at UFC 194 which to many was really an unofficial title contenders match with Romero seizing the lay and pray win to the dismay of many fans of what was supposed to be a barn burner of a fight. Souza had been on a finishing tear only going to decision once in his UFC career against Francis Carmont. With the win by Romero not a searing image in the mind of many, some fans are willing to overlook the loss and consider him for a shot at the title like he was supposed to.

The next option for UFC 199 is  Michael Bisping. Michael Bisping has been in the UFC for just 2 months shy of a decade and has been chasing gold ever since his debut. The typical Bisping pattern that has kept him from the belt is his streak of wins to the title contention match before losing when it counts (pun intended). Those loses comin to Rashad Evans, Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen. Many would see Michael Bisping as the least viable option as the skills and strength of Luke Rockhold seem overwhelming for Bisping as Bisping has never really been known as a person to manhandle his opponents physically and Rockhold is never afraid to let that be known. With Rockhold showing his full array of skills and strength in the Weidman match Michael Bisping might be giving up an actual training camp for a short term high end risk.

That leads us to our next option, that being Derek Brunson. The Jackson-Winklejohn product is 6-1 in his last 7 fights, is currently on a 4 fight winning streak and has the technical skills and coaching to rise above just being a high end prospect. With the wrestling and striking skills to match him being a championship belt challenger Derek Brunson also has the coaching of one of the best MMA gyms in the world training with the likes of Donald Cerrone, Holly Holm, and Jon Jones to name a few. Brunson is no stranger in the physical strength attribute as well maybe being able to match Rockhold in that department and also in the ground game where Rockhold has more than elite level credentials in both wrestling and BJJ.

Last on our list we have Yoel Romero. The wrestling standout who has a gift of amazing striking power that makes some of his tougher opponents think twice before trading with him barring Tim Kennedy that is. In his UFC 7 fight winning streak he has only had two decision victories the other fie coming by way of KO or TKO and two of those wins coming over two options on our list in the form of Brunson (TKO) and Souza (split decision). With those two wins many would say that they shouldn’t be able t get a shot over him, but Romero is coming of of a USADA suspension wher the banned supplement found in his system was actually found in the supplement and not on the ingredient list. Even with the reduced suspension he still is suspended for 6 months which puts his return somewhere in October and putting off the belt defense by months.