UFC 258 has lost it’s co-main event. ESPN’s Ariel Helwani was first to report that the middleweight matchup between Chris Weidman (15-5) and Uriah Hall (16-9) has been called off.
The fight is a rematch from their first matchup that took place almost 11 years ago. Weidman got the better of that fight and he was able to stop Uriah Hall. That was long before either man was in the UFC.
Per Helwani, Weidman recently tested positive for COVID-19. Because of that positive test, the fight that was originally scheduled to take place in 15 days is being pushed back. The current plan is for the fight to take place at UFC 261.
The current target date for that fight is April 24th. Given the amount of time needed in between the two dates, one can assume that Weidman was pretty sick from his COVID-19 diagnosis.
Big UFC Middleweight Matchup
Both of these men currently rank inside the UFC’s top 11 at middleweight. Chris Weidman returned to the middleweight division in 2020 after a one-fight stint at the light heavyweight division.
The former UFC middleweight champion was able to grind out a decision over Omari Akhmedov in his return to middleweight. Going back to July 2017, Weidman is 2-1 in his last three middleweight contests including a submission over Kelvin Gastelum.
However, Weidman is just 2-5 overall in his last seven fights. More concerning is the fact that the former UFC champion was knocked out in all five of those losses. Nevertheless, Weidman seems dedicated and focused on one final run at 185.
Uriah Hall is such a unique fighter. He has always had the talent, but he couldn’t quite get over the hump in the UFC. He has some solid wins over guys like Anderson Silva, Gegard Mousasi, and Thiago Santos.
However, for the majority of his UFC career, Hall has come up short in the big fights. Since 2015, he’s lost four times, but all four times he was going against the elites of the division. The losses came against Robert Whittaker, Paulo Costa, Derek Brunson, and Gegard Mousasi.
Yet, Hall believes he’s the best he’s ever been. If he’s able to defeat Weidman at UFC 261, it would be his fourth straight victory. He would once again be ready to challenge someone in the top five. Maybe this will finally be the time he breaks through.