This past Saturday at UFC 261, there was a highly anticipated rematch in the middleweight division. Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman (15-6) was set to take on Uriah Hall (17-9).
This fight was a rematch from 2010. Way back when they first fought, Weidman got the first round TKO victory. It was just the third fight in the former UFC champion’s career. Both men have come a long ways since then.
It’s been a difficult few years for the former champion. After losing the title to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194, Weidman went just 2-4 in his next six fights. So going back to the Rockhold fight, Weidman was just 2-5 and all five losses were finishes.
In late 2019, Weidman moved to light heavyweight hoping to have a career resurgence. Instead, he was knocked out in the first round by Dominick Reyes. After that, the former UFC champion returned to middleweight.
In August of last year, he returned and picked up a good win over Omari Akhmedov. With that win, Weidman found himself back in the rankings at the eleventh spot. That win got him the fight with Uriah Hall.
By all indications, Weidman was more motivated than ever heading into UFC 261. He looked great all week and the odds actually swung to his favor before fight night. However, the fight ended up being a nightmare for the former champion.
Weidman came right out and looked to be aggressive. He pawed his jab trying to gauge the distance. The former champion unleashed a leg kick that was checked and his leg snapped. The former UFC champion crumbled and the fight was over.
What’s the UFC future for Weidman?
The injury that occurred at UFC 261 is so crazy and a little ironic at the same time. Famously, the same thing happened to Anderson Silva when he had his rematch with Weidman back at UFC 168.
Weidman checked Silva’s kick and the leg snapped. This has only happened three times in the history of the UFC and Weidman has now been apart of two of them. One time he was the checker and Saturday night he was the breaker.
The former UFC champion took to Instagram today to thank everyone for their support. He said that the doctors are telling him it will be six to twelve months before he can train again.
If we take the conservative number there, we likely won’t see Chris Weidman compete in the UFC for about 15-18 months. I don’t believe Chris Weidman’s career is over and he won’t be even 38 by the time he’s back.
However, there’s no telling as to how he will respond to the recovery. There are so many question marks surrounding Weidman’s future. I pray that he’s able to come back healthy, but at this point, no one knows if he will.