Chris Weidman, Ronda Rousey target L.A. glory

Chris Weidman and Ronda Rousey are two of the UFC’s biggest stars, undefeated champions coming off arguably the most impressive wins of their careers last July in Las Vegas. Now, Weidman and Rousey will fight on the same card again as they headline the biggest MMA card at the Staples Center since 2006. At UFC 184 on Feb. 28, Weidman will defend his UFC middleweight title against Vitor Belfort and Rousey will defend her UFC women’s bantamweight crown against Cat Zingano.

Early in their MMA careers, Weidman and Rousey established themselves as fighters to watch. Weidman debuted in the UFC after only four professional fights. In his UFC debut, he defeated Alessio Sakara, an opponent with nearly three times as many UFC fights as Weidman had total fights. Rousey, meanwhile, debuted for the national Strikeforce promotion in only her third pro fight and won the premier championship in her weight class in only her fifth fight.

While Weidman and Rousey thrived in MMA from early on, they differed greatly in public approach. Rousey targeted media attention from the onset, trash talking opponents she didn’t care for and marketing herself aggressively. The approach paid off handsomely, as she garnered magazine covers, television appearances and eventually major movie roles, including “The Expendables 3” and the upcoming blockbuster “Furious 7”. Weidman has been more reserved, letting his performances do the talking and not engaging in public feuds or targeting major movie roles.

It is that typically low-key working class approach that makes Weidman’s attitude towards his upcoming UFC middleweight title defense against Vitor Belfort all the more striking.

“My goal is to separate myself from everyone in the division,” Weidman says. “I plan to dominate and embarrass Vitor Belfort.”

If that approach sounds different than Weidman’s attitude towards previous opponents like Lyoto Machida, Anderson Silva, Mark Munoz and Demian Maia, it’s because Belfort is a different sort of opponent. Few fans rooted for any of those competitors, some of the most respected in the sport, to be embarrassed. But Belfort has come to symbolize for many the blight of performance-enhancing drugs in MMA like Barry Bonds once did in baseball.

Belfort, blessed with remarkable hand speed and devastating power, spent most of his career dominating easier opponents but faltering when challenged by fighters whose will wouldn’t easily break. Then, in recent years, that changed. Belfort’s physique underwent a remarkable transformation in his mid-30s. He became bigger and more muscular than ever before with help from testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), the controversial treatment now banned by the UFC. He also failed two drug tests. He began knocking out tough and game opponents left and right, setting up this title shot with Weidman.

For Weidman, it has been a frustrating few years having to answer questions about a fight ostensibly defined by, through no fault of his own, the question of performance enhancing drugs. He now has the opportunity to finally lay the issue to rest and that, along with recent words by Belfort, have provided plenty of motivation for the champion.

“He got caught cheating twice,” Weidman notes. “I don’t like anyone who gets caught cheating. It’s bad for the sport. And he’s knocking people out with it. So it’s not cool. And he said my hand injury was made up so I could hold the belt until Christmas. That’s a little bit of trash talking that I won’t forget.”

Weidman feels a key advantage he has over Belfort is his mental toughness. Weidman, who came up through the grind of amateur wrestling, pressures and wears down opponents. Belfort, by contrast, overwhelms opponents early. He is 22-4 in fights that end in the first or second round but only 2-6 in fights that reach the third round.

“I know he can break,” Weidman says. “I know he breaks. Knowing that somebody can mentally break and seeing it in the past means a lot because my game plan is always to mentally break my opponent. There’s no way I’m not breaking him.”

Adding to Weidman’s confidence is his most recent bout, a classic battle with Lyoto Machida. Machida elusive karate style has always given wrestlers fits as he patiently picks them apart and takes advantage of any attempts to close distance. Weidman was able to strike with Machida and was winning the early rounds. But Machida, a proud former champion, refused to wilt under the pressure. He came back strong late in the fight and showed an aggression he rarely exhibits in trying to stop Weidman and score the come from behind victory.

Despite Machida’s enormous heart, skill and determination, Weidman was able to withstand the storm and even come back on Machida in the fifth. It was a fight where both men showed that they would fight through great adversity, something necessary when matched with one of the sport’s most feared knockout artists. It’s also a source of pride for the champion.

“It was one of those fights that you see other guys in and you think that you want to be in one of those,” Weidman observes. “It was one of those great fights where you have the opportunity to test yourself. Machida truly believed that he was going to win and wanted to win so badly and you could see that throughout the fight, particularly in the fourth round. It was a tough test and I’m glad I got past it. I think that was the toughest matchup in the division for me so to get that W means a lot.”

On Feb. 28, Weidman will have the opportunity to do it again. A champion’s road in any combat sport rarely gets easier.

While Weidman has harsher words for his next opponent than his previous opponents, the same is not true for Rousey. Rousey hasn’t been afraid to let her opinions be known about opponents and prospective opponents she does not like. However, she holds respect for the undefeated Zingano, a fighter who has overcome tremendous adversity to make it to this fight.

In April of 2013, Zingano established herself as the No. 1 contender for Rousey’s title with an exciting TKO victory over Miesha Tate. She was set to coach opposite Ronda Rousey on the Ultimate Fighter television show and then would fight Rousey later in the year. Unfortunately, fate intervened. Zingano suffered a serious injury to her knee and underwent treatment on both of her knees that kept her out of action over a year. To make matters worse, her husband and the father of her child committed suicide during that period, adding unimaginable personal adversity to her struggle back.

When Zingano returned to action, she no longer had the guaranteed shot at Rousey. Instead, she had to defeat Amanda Nunes first. Nunes dominated the first round of the fight and looked like she was going to blow through Zingano. But Zingano came back strong in the second and third rounds, getting the stoppage win in the third. She had overcome adversity once more. Finally, she would get her shot at Rousey.

Rousey, watching the fight, didn’t doubt Zingano even in the rough early going. To her, perseverance is one of Zingano’s defining traits.

“If Cat got through the first, I thought she’d win that fight,” Rousey says. “She always gets better as the fight goes on. She didn’t back up at the end. That’s what makes her a great fighter. Some people are just fighters and Cat’s a fighter. When she’s down it brings out the best in her.”

Zingano will offer up a different challenge for Rousey than many other recent opponents. While Rousey has been battling ground specialists and wrestlers frequently recently, Zingano has power and likes to strike. She has gotten finishes in eight of her nine fights, an extremely high rate for a female fighter facing top competition. Of course, Rousey has 10 finishes in 10 fights. Rousey has shown tremendous improvement and it will be interesting to see whether Rousey engages on the feet or will look to utilize her world class judo to get the fight to the ground and work her famous armbar.

“When I fight, it’s never about showing off,” Rousey notes. “It’s about efficiency and using all the tools that I have. I’m showing off more tools as time goes on. As my opponents are scared to close the distance, it opens up more opportunities for me to use my striking.”

Outside the Octagon, Rousey has been extremely busy shooting movies and establishing her name to those who know nothing about fighting. It’s likely that those opportunities will only increase in the coming years. For Rousey, shooting movies isn’t about fame or money, but rather is something she always had an interest in pursuing.

“I never do anything just for the money. If I did, I’d just be a trophy wife,” Rousey says with a laugh. “I do it because it’s something I’ve always wanted to do but I never really entertained seriously because it was more realistic to get into fighting than to be an actress or a model. As I pursued fighting, the others became an option. As soon as I realized they were in the cards, I realized that was something I wanted to do.”

Fighting to acting is an unlikely path, particularly for a young woman. But Rousey has always been an outlier. Her unique outlook and disposition has brought her success, as has her tremendous competitiveness. A new challenge isn’t something scary, but rather something to be relished.

Even as her fame has increased, Rousey maintains her presence in Southern California. She was recently spotted with some of her friends and fellow female fighters at an underground pro wrestling event run by the popular Pro Wrestling Guerrilla promotion, a different sort of outing for an aspiring Hollywood star and UFC champion.

“I’m a little different and so are my friends,” Rousey notes. “We decided to have a girls’ night out and our idea of a girls’ night out was going to PWG. It was one of the funnest nights ever, anywhere in the world.”

As Rousey and Weidman have become increasingly successful, they retain the same personas they always had. At UFC 184, they will seek to retain what has become central to their identities: the championships that they cherish and worked so hard to attain. It will be no easy task, but neither was the path to success that they already achieved.