Chris Weidman reveals he had to battle a broken rib as well as Alessio Sakara on the UFC on Versus 3 card

UFC middleweight wrestling sensation, Chris Weidman has been speaking about his recent debut win inside the octagon when he took on Italian veteran heavy hitter, Alessio Sakara in Louisville, Kentucky, revealing he also had to battle a broken rib that night which seriously hampered his preparation.

Speaking via MMAFighting.com, Weidman said:

“I just told myself if I was going to feel the rib at all, it’s going to be in the fight. I felt healthy, the rib didn’t bother me. With the body shots I felt it, but I pushed right through it.”

“In the corner they were like, ‘You’re doing great standing with the guy.’ I felt his best shots and I wasn’t going anywhere. I hadn’t done sparring or wrestling, so timing was way off, especially in the first round. My first two takedown attempts, I don’t even know if you can call them that. I was throwing a punch and thinking of a takedown at same time. I was all over the place.”

“My last fight before this was three weeks’ notice and Sakara was two weeks’ notice, so I’m looking forward to a full camp and showing off what I can really do out there.”

Weidman had a stellar wrestling career before turning his attentions to mixed martial arts, defeating the likes of UFC light heavyweight stars, Ryan Bader and Phil Davis on the mat. With this sort of ability to score the takedown I’m sure it won’t be too long before we see him taking on some of the best at 185 pounds.