The UFC is finalizing a great middleweight contest that will take place early next year. ESPN’s Ariel Helwani is reporting that the promotion is closing to booking Chris Weidman (15-5) against Uriah Hall (16-9) on February 13th.
The fight is actually a rematch from ten years ago at Ring of Combat. That night, Weidman got the better of Hall, finishing him in the first round. Of course, both fighters are drastically different more than ten years later.
Former UFC middleweight champion, Chris Weidman, made his successful return to the middleweight division back in August. Weidman was able to win a decision over Omari Akhmedov which was just his second win since 2015.
Weidman went up to the UFC‘s light heavyweight division for one fight where he was knocked out by Dominick Reyes. A dejected Weidman decided to go for one final run in the middleweight division.
After defeating Akhmedov, Weidman found himself in the top ten of the middleweight division once again. In his next bout, he will be rematching Hall who is currently the ninth ranked middleweight in the UFC.
UFC Middleweight Battle
Uriah Hall is coming off of a knockout over his hero, Anderson Silva. It was a fight that saw Hall struggle early on with pulling the trigger. It was a criticism that has plauged the talented Hall throughout his career.
Since being on The Ultimate Fighter, there has never been anyone who has questioned the talent of Uriah Hall. The problem with Hall has always been pulling the trigger and putting everything together.
Hall has won three fights in a row to get him into good position within the middleweight division. Since 2015, the only men to have defeated Hall all rank inside the UFC‘s top ten at middleweight.
This fight is a massive fight for both of these men. If Hall is able to defeat the former champion, he will inch one step closer to the title while Weidman might look at hanging it up. If Weidman can win, he will show the world that this middleweight comeback means business.