Chris Weidman admits “I need to get a freaking W” ahead of Akhmedov fight

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, who is now 1-5 in his last six fights, knows he needs a win when he fights Omari Akhmedov at UFC Vegas 6 this weekend.

Speaking to MMA Fighting ahead of this high-stakes bout, Weidman opened up on his recent struggles.

“It’s a very tough sport. It’s a fickle sport,” Weidman said. “The fans are definitely tough. But it’s also kind of motivating. You want to remind them. I’m 1-5 in my last six fights. But you look at who I fought and then one person I beat [Kelvin Gastelum] and he’s done pretty good himself. In all those fights, other than my [Dominick] Reyes fight, I was winning the fight. It’s just kind of the way it works sometimes.

“You fight all these really good guys, you’re not always going to get your hand raised. There’s definitely randomness who wins that night. Random things that happen. It doesn’t necessarily mean that person is the better person in the fight.”

Heading into his Saturday night fight, Weidman admits he wasn’t familiar with his opponent when the matchup was offered. That being said, he’s taking the challenge very seriously.

“I just wanted to fight,” Weidman said. “I honestly didn’t really hear of him leading up. I was like who’s that? Even my manager didn’t know. Then I looked him up and he’s been on his way up. He’s been in the UFC for a while, kind of going back and forth between welterweight and middleweight.

“He’s on a nice win streak and he’s ranked in the top 15. It’s one of the first times I’m not fighting someone in the top five but he’s a tough kid. I think it’s a really good matchup.”

“I’m taking it very serious. He’s tough but when I look at the guys I’ve fought, I don’t think he’s up there as far as the most talented. I think that’s a fair statement without knocking him.”

At the end of the day, Weidman is just focused on correcting his recent skid with a sorely needed dose of victory.

“I need to get a freaking ‘W,” Weidman said. “I need to get back on my winning ways. I think I have a lot of advantages in this fight but when you’re in there, you never know what’s going to happen.”

Do you think Chris Weidman will come out on top this weekend?