Ray Longo says Vitor Belfort is "living in a different universe".

[The Great Cochrane]

One of the man behind Chris Weidman's recent success as champion is his striking coach Ray Longo, and he's helped Weidman achieve some incredible success. On top of beating Anderson Silva who's highly regarded as the greatest fighter of all time, the All American also proved he's for real when he defeated Silva's Blackhouse team mate Lyoto Machida last Saturday at UFC 175.

But even in Weidman's impressive streak of which along with Silva and Machida also include the likes of Mark Munoz and Demian Maia, Longo knows that Weidman is not unbeatable and definitely has some potential fighters that carry the kryptonite to dethrone the champion.

In a recent interview with MMAJunkie, Longo took to discuss those threats to Weidman.

I think the three top guys would probably be Souza, Rockhold and … if that guy can ever get his act together, which I think I think this guy’s living in a different universe at this point.

Obviously that nameless man Longo's referring to is Vitor Belfort, who many believe is next in Weidman's crosshairs. But currently Weidman is under medical suspension and will be out for the rest of the year, so it's hard to determine who will be next in line for a title shot at this point.

Author: Alex Cochrane
Cited source: BJPenn.com

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I think this is a rather silly claim. When Weidman and Belfort fight it's gonna be fireworks, guarentee.

 

[Swinny]

I think Mousasi should be in there too, think he can be a solid contender and has a shot at getting past Jacare in their fight.

But there's definitely some great challengers for Weidman, him winning the title really has freshened up that division.

 

[The Great Cochrane]

I think Mousasi should be in there too, think he can be a solid contender and has a shot at getting past Jacare in their fight.

But there's definitely some great challengers for Weidman, him winning the title really has freshened up that division.

Stylistically, Weidman would destroy him.

The reason Jacare, Rockhold and Belfort are top threats is because they have kryptonite for Weidman's greatest strength - his wrestling.

 

[Swinny]

Stylistically, Weidman would destroy him.

The reason Jacare, Rockhold and Belfort are top threats is because they have kryptonite for Weidman's greatest strength - his wrestling.

Mousasi's got grappling too though, look at the way he threw around Munoz who is a top notch wrestler.

Does Belfort really have that though? Jacare does because he's a beast off his back, Rockhold because he's a great wrestler himself and a big strong dude, but can Vitor really stop Weidman's wrestling? Or if he can't can he do anything off his back? I mean he did almost catch Jon Jones but he did nothing like that before that fight and it seems like that was a one in a million thing that happened.

I want to see all those fights though.

 

[The Great Cochrane]

Mousasi's got grappling too though, look at the way he threw around Munoz who is a top notch wrestler.

Does Belfort really have that though? Jacare does because he's a beast off his back, Rockhold because he's a great wrestler himself and a big strong dude, but can Vitor really stop Weidman's wrestling? Or if he can't can he do anything off his back? I mean he did almost catch Jon Jones but he did nothing like that before that fight and it seems like that was a one in a million thing that happened.

I want to see all those fights though.

Yes, if Vitor pushes Weidman back and gets off first staying in Weidman's face, then he definitely has a chance of knocking him out. Weidman's never really dealt with an aggressive fighter like Belfort so we haven't really seen what he can do defensively. It won't be easy knocking out Weidman though, the guy's got a tough chin.

As for Mousasi, his grappling is nowhere on the level of Weidman's. Sure, he may of submit Munoz, but Munoz himself isn't even half the wrestler Weidman is. You don't believe me? Take a look at his wrestling accolades then watch the Munoz fight. Weidman plowed through him like a wrecking ball.