There are no prizes for guessing who Chris Weidman is picking to win the UFC 205 headliner.
Having campaigned more heavily than any active fighter for the legalisation of mixed martial arts in New York, Weidman has been rewarded with a spot on the pay-per-view of the promotion’s first ever event in Madison Square Garden.
Weidman cut it tight to make it onto the November 12 card but eventually the deal was done and he is likely to have more eyes than ever on him for his main card middleweight clash with Yoel Romero due to the fact that the event is headlined by the biggest draw in the sport in Conor McGregor.
The lightweight title fight between ‘The Notorious’ and 155lbs champion Eddie Alvarez is expected to shatter pay-per-view records, though this likely won’t have too positive an impact on Weidman’s bank balance as he no longer receives a cut of the pay-per-view revenue.
“I don’t know if I’ll be making more money (with McGregor on the card),” Weidman told BJPenn.com. “That’s where the championship comes in to play. If I were champion still I’d be making pay-per-view points. Tyron Woodley, Joanna J, they’ll be making more money for sure.”
But in terms of the biggest pop on the night, it will undoubtedly be Weidman who receives the most generous ovation from the NYC faithful as he was born and raised in Baldwin, New York.
And when it comes to picking a winner from the main event, Weidman is unsurprisingly sticking with his fellow East Coast fighter.
“Alvarez actually trains with one of my coaches so I’ve watched him train, he’s a tough dude, man,” Weidman added.
“He’s at the top of his game and just became champion. He wants to prove something. Conor wants to prove something too. So you have two guys who definitely have something to prove.
“Alvarez is definitely the bigger guy. He’s gonna use his wrestling while Conor’s gonna try to keep it standing.
“It’s gonna be a tough fight but I’m going with Alvarez on this one.”
