Chris Weidman speaks exclusively to Sky Sports ahead of UFC 194

Chris Weidman was still a novice when he dethroned the greatest champion ever but has revealed the secret recipe for that success.

The UFC middleweight champion shockingly knocked out the legendary Anderson Silva two-and-a-half years before immediately repeating the trick by breaking his esteemed opponent's leg in a rematch.

Weidman, in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, has claimed that his close-knit group of coaches understood how he could bring down the mighty Silva despite having fought just a handful of times.

I was fighting Anderson Silva at 9-0 and I was in the UFC at 4-0, these are definitely stats that are different to everybody else's

"I was fighting Anderson Silva at 9-0 and I was in the UFC at 4-0, these are definitely stats that are different to everybody else's," Weidman told Sky Sports.

"Me and my coaches were the only people that knew what we knew. I was better than him, I could beat him.

"I remember thinking that I wanted to beat him, and be the first guy to win his world title, when I first got into the sport. But I don't think I was mature enough to beat him at that point.

"But once I got into the UFC and had won four or five fights, it got to the point where I said 'I really want to fight Anderson because I know I can beat him'.

"I rose quickly in this sport but I did that on purpose. I took risks and accepted every challenge that came because I wanted to make the most of my career, as quickly as possible."

The sight of Silva, recognised as an all-time MMA great, falling unconscious after a Weidman punch is an infamous moment similar to Holly Holm's recent upset of Ronda Rousey.

But the New York fighter is now established among the UFC's pound-for-pound elite having extended his undefeated record to 13-0 with convincing beatings of former world champions Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort.

"I'm human just like everybody else and I understand that anything can happen," he said. "But I do a very good job of controlling the things that I can control.

"I control my attitude, my work ethic, the people around me and my habits. I control as many things as I can so that I can work hard inside the Octagon - from there, whatever happens, happens.

"The goal is to retire undefeated as the greatest of all time and if I stay strong there's a very real possibility of that happening."

Weidman puts his 185-pounds championship on the line for the fourth time this weekend at UFC 194 against Luke Rockhold in the co main-event before Jose Aldo v Conor McGregor.

The collision between the two Americans, the east coast champion against the west coast challenger, is anticipated as a contest between two young bucks in the prime of their careers. But Weidman can't see Rockhold (14-2) posing as many problems as his predecessors.

He said: "We don't know if Luke's a better fighter than Anderson but we know he's a better fighter than Machida because he beat him - even though, on that day, Machida was off and seemed to slip on a rug.

"Anderson and Machida both have better striking than Rockhold. I've fought guys with better submissions than him, and other guys with better wrestling than him.

"I will move forwards looking to punch and knock him out and if he protects himself from that I will take him down and choke him out.

"Look at the guys that I've beat and the things that I've done. Nobody, ever, has done the things that I have."

Chris Weidman defends the middleweight title against Luke Rockhold at UFC 194