Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman is inching closer to a return following a long recovery from a nasty leg injury he suffered at UFC 261.
Weidman suffered a serious leg injury against Uriah Hall at UFC 261 in early 2021. Just 17 seconds into the fight, his leg snapped after a kick was checked by Hall, shattering Weidman’s right fibula and tibia.
It’s been a long road back to action for Weidman, who will return to combat sports in a grappling match against Owen Livesey on March 11th. He originally targeted a return last year before suffering multiple setbacks in his recovery.
After his upcoming Polaris 23 grappling matchup, Weidman has his sights set on a return to the Octagon. Despite the odds arguably stacked against him, he feels he can still compete against the best middleweights in the world.
Chris Weidman: I’m Coming Back To Get Back What’s Mine
(Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, Weidman gave an encouraging update on when fans can expect him to fight again.
“I think probably June-ish, something like that,” Weidman revealed. “I’m gonna wait until after this grappling match, get that win, focus on that and then as soon as I’m done I’m going to hit up the UFC and figure it out.”
Weidman went on to clarify that he remains in pursuit of a UFC title.
“Someone in the Top 15, anywhere from 10 to 15,” Weidman said of his next opponent. “I’m not coming back to be a b-rated fighter or a gatekeeper…I went through all this hell not just to come back, I want to come back to try and get back what is mine. Try to get that belt. After analyzing all these guys, watching the middleweight division these last two years, I don’t think there’s any reason why I can’t beat those guys.”
Before the injury against Hall, Weidman bounced back from a light heavyweight defeat by defeating Omari Akhmedov in his middleweight return in Aug. 2020. After losing the middleweight title to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194, he lost fights to Gegard Mousasi and Yoel Romero.
Weidman is arguably one of the greatest middleweights of all time, with his two wins over Anderson Silva and victories over Vitor Belfort and Lyoto Machida. He won the first 13 fights of his professional career.
As of this writing, Darren Till holds the No. 15 spot in the middleweight rankings. Just ahead of him are rising middleweights such as Chris Curtis and André Muniz.
Weidman isn’t coming back just for the love of fighting, but also for redemption and to potentially become a two-time UFC champion.
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