Chris Weidman more motivated than ever for rematch vs. Luke Rockhold

Chris Weidman has never entered the Octagon with a loss on his record.

That will change in June.

The Baldwin native and former UFC middleweight champion lost to Luke Rockhold by TKO from strikes at the 3:12 mark of the fourth round in a title fight at UFC 194 on Dec. 12.

Six months later he’ll get his shot at redemption. The Weidman-Rockhold rematch is planned for UFC 199 in June, UFC president Dana White has said. An exact date and location have yet to be announced.

On Tuesday at a news conference in support of the bill to legalize and regulate professional MMA in New York, Weidman said he’s more motivated than ever for his upcoming fight.

“Even stepping back to my first Anderson Silva fight where it was like a dream come true to be able to fight him,” Weidman said. “This is even bigger to me. I’m training this far out. I’ve never trained this far out from a fight.”

After his loss to Rockhold, reports emerged that Weidman had fought with a broken foot, but he said so far during his training he’s been healthy.

Weidman said he’s been training with different people to help him step outside of his comfort zone, and he’s working with Mark Henry, featherweight Frankie Edgar’s striking coach.

“He’s just a very organized guy who is absolutely crazy when it comes to this sport,” Weidman said of Henry. “He’s obsessed. I mean, he’s taking notes, and he’s watching film. He really breaks it down like a scientist, and he’s a great complement to the team I already had.”

That team being the Serra-Longo Fight Team, which includes fellow Long Islanders Aljamain Sterling and Al Iaquinta. Ray Longo and Matt Serra still are Weidman’s main coaches.

Weidman, a two-time All-American wrestler at both Nassau Community College and Hofstra, said he’s taking preparation for this fight more seriously than the last.

“I’m not just gonna wing it anymore,” he said. “When you’re a champion and you’ve never been beaten for the seven years, it’s hard to really change things when everything’s just been working, and you just feel like you know we’ll win regardless of what I do. All I know is I’m gonna work hard, and I’ll win. But after losing, it opens up your eyes and you realize what you had was very precious and how hard you have to work to get it back and different things that you can change to get even better, so now I have those opportunities.”

Now Rockhold’s the reigning champion, and he seems confident that he’ll hold onto the belt.

In an interview with SB Nation’s Bloody Elbow earlier this month, Rockhold predicted that he’d beat Weidman in two rounds this time.

“He can have all these predictions, that’s good,” Weidman said. “I’ll just let him know that he has a completely different animal coming at him this time. I’m sure he knows that. And I’m prepared for even a better Luke Rockhold. But I’m not playing games. He’s gonna have the best Chris Weidman he could ever imagine, so good luck trying to take him out in two rounds.”