Tomorrow night in the featured prelim of UFC 292 we are going to see the return of a former middleweight champion. “The All American” Chris Weidman (15-6) makes his long awaited return as he takes on another tough veteran in Brad Tavares (19-8).
We haven’t seen Weidman since UFC 261 in April 2021. That night, Weidman took on Uriah Hall. He was coming off a win over Omari Akhmedov and was looking for his second straight win at 185. Weidman took to the center of the cage and threw a leg kick. His leg snapped after Hall checked the kick.
It’s been a long road to recovery, but Weidman is finally back after the horrific injury. Weidman said at the post-fight press conference yesterday that he believes he has one more run left in him towards the title. That run starts with Brad Tavares tomorrow night.
Tavares is looking to get back on track when he makes the walk tomorrow night. He’s lost back-to-back fights and most recently was a knockout loss in April to Bruno Silva. Tavares needs a win badly and we know he would love to add a former UFC champion to his win list.
UFC 292 Prediction
To be completely honest with you, I’m not sure what to expect from Chris Weidman. I don’t mean this as disrespect to Brad Tavares, but years ago, people would laugh at you if you were to ask how Brad Tavares would do against Chris Weidman. However, we are so far removed from the prime days of Weidman.
He’s nearly 40 and he’s coming off a catastrophic injury. With Brad Tavares, I’m expecting some good striking from the outside and I expect him to make everything tough on Weidman. Weidman is going to try and do everything he can to get the fight to the ground. I don’t think the former UFC champion wants to have a kickboxing match tomorrow night.
I do think we go to the scorecards here and I think we see one of two fights. Either Weidman is successful throughout the night in getting takedowns and wins a decision. Or, Tavares keeps things at range and wins a mostly striking-based decision. Unfortunately for Weidman, I think we’ll see the latter.
Prediction: Brad Tavares by Decision