"He's as bad as Askren is with striking" - Chris Weidman baffled by Alex Pereira's meteoric rise in UFC despite lack of strong wrestling base

Chris Weidman recently weighed in on Alex Pereira's meteoric rise in the UFC despite his lack of wrestling and noted that it has been astonishing to see.

The Brazilian is one of the most decorated combat sports athletes to compete in MMA as he is a former two-division Glory Kickboxing champion and now a two-division UFC champion. He has defeated several former champions in both middleweight and light heavyweight, which makes his rise even more impressive.

During his appearance on Michael Bisping's Believe You Me podcast, Weidman discussed Pereira's success in the UFC and his skillset. He used Ben Askren's success transitioning from wrestling to MMA as an example and mentioned how baffling it is that 'Poatan' could become an all-time great. He said:

"It's hard for me to get full behind [Alex] Pereira because I do see such an opening with the wrestling and he hasn't really fought wrestlers...It's almost like Ben Askren coming into the UFC and being able to just become a multiple time champion with no hands...This guy is kinda the opposite, I would almost say he's as bad as [Ben] Askren is with striking and this guy may go down as one of the best fighters of all time. It is weird to see."

Check out Chris Weidman's full comments regarding Alex Pereira's meteoric rise below:

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Chris Weidman has no interest in retiring yet

Chris Weidman has had a successful MMA career that included a reign as UFC middleweight champion after famously dethroning Anderson Silva.

Despite his grueling leg injury and the difficult path to recovering, the 39-year-old returned and has since gone 1-1. He most recently earned a technical decision win over Bruno Silva and expressed interest in competing rather than retiring.

During the aforementioned appearance, Weidman mentioned that he would like there to be more at stake in his next bout, and liked Michael Bisping's suggestion for Sean Strickland being his opponent. He said:

"I think I want a big name. I went with Bruno Silva, not a big name. I think it's time to step up. Have a fun fight that people want to see...If it was up to me, I would have a bigger name. A fight that means a little more with a win...[Sean Strickland?] I would love that fight. I got a lot of respect for Strickland. I think it would be a fun buildup."

Check out Chris Weidman's full comments regarding his next bout below: