Chris Weidman News

Drake Riggs - July 23, 2018

UFC 230 looks to be getting another high-level middleweight affair. And it’s safe to say that no one really saw it coming. Former middleweight champions of the UFC, Luke Rockhold, and Chris Weidman were to initially have their rematch at UFC 199 in 2016. Unfortunately for Weidman, he would get injured out of the bout thus costing him his chance at regaining the gold.

Tom Taylor - June 14, 2018

Now that Robert Whittaker has defeated Yoel Romero for a second time — he did so by decision in the main event of UFC 225 — there are two clear frontrunners in the race to the next middleweight title shot. One is former middleweight champion Chris Weidman. The other is streaking contender Kelvin Gastelum. Weidman believes he deserves the next middleweight title shot because he submitted Kelvin Gastelum in his last fight. He also believes that his accolades as a former middleweight champion — with three defenses to his name — outweigh his three recent losses to Luke Rockhold, Romero and Gegard Mousasi.

Tom Taylor - June 13, 2018

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman believes he should be the next man in line for reigning UFC middleweight champ Robert Whitaker. Weidman made his case for the next middleweight title shot on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “Obviously for me that would be the best case is to fight for the title,” he said (transcribed by Adam Guillen Jr. for MMAMania). “Fighting Whittaker, that’s a guy I match up well with and that’s a guy I feel I can go out there and finish.”

Tom Taylor - April 4, 2018

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman has not fought since his July 2017 defeat of Kelvin Gastelum. The reason for this prolonged absence is a complicated thumb injury that he sustained during the fight. Unfortunately, Weidman’s thumb is still not healthy. Far from it, in fact.

Tom Taylor - February 12, 2018

Last weekend, in the main event of UFC 221, former Olympic silver medalist Yoel Romero knocked out former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. With this win, Romero is believed to have earned himself a crack at reigning UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. Not everybody, however, believes he deserves this chance, as he lost a decision to Whittaker just last year. File former champ Chris Weidman into this group. While Weidman was impressed with Romero’s win, he believes he’s got a bit more work to do before earning a rematch with Whittaker. In his eyes, he himself is more deserving of the next middleweight title shot.

Tom Taylor - February 5, 2018

For a time, Anderson Silva stood out as the greatest mixed martial artist alive. Eventually, however, his reign was brought to an abrupt and violent halt by a young Chris Weidman, who defeated him first by second-round knockout, and then again as the result of a brutal leg injury. Yet even after his losses to Weidman, Silva remained a frontrunner for MMA’s Greatest of All Time title. Sure, he seemed to be on a career downslide, but his remarkable accomplishments seemed to be ironclad.

Drake Riggs - February 1, 2018

Next week, UFC 221 is headlined by a big middleweight fight to determine the interim champion while undisputed champion, Robert Whittaker recovers on the sideline. In that interim title fight will be recent title challenger, Yoel Romero, and former UFC champ, Luke Rockhold. Someone who’s pretty familiar with both of these fighters is another former champion, Chris Weidman who fought and lost to both fighters in back to back fights. Since these losses, he’s gone 1-1 with his last fight being a win over the very skilled, Kelvin Gastelum. While Weidman’s been recovering from a recent injury, a fellow perennial top 185er has earned a big win as well. Someone Weidman has interest in fighting as he told MMAFighting:

Tom Taylor - January 31, 2018

Next weekend, in the main event of UFC 221 in Perth, Australia, former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champ Luke Rockhold will battle Yoel Romero for the UFC interim middleweight title. Originally, Rockhold was expected to battle undisputed champion Robert Whittaker on the card, but he still stands to win UFC gold all the same. Long-time middleweight contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza doesn’t feel this is right. ”They are always complicating things for me,” Souza told MMAFighting of the title situation at middleweight. “[Luke] Rockhold just beat David Branch, who came from another promotion, and is fighting for the belt. The criteria is different with me, I always have to fight one more time. I honestly think that I have to fight one more, but why only me? Rockhold just beat Branch, man, and is fighting for an interim belt? Do you get what I’m saying?”

Justin Golightly - November 14, 2017

There is finally some movement going down in the middleweight division after being in a log jam. Robert Whittaker was able to capture an interim UFC middleweight title. After that, Georges St-Pierre swooped in out of nowhere and became the new champ after submitting Michael Bisping. Meanwhile, fighters like Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero are waiting to see how everything shakes up. Chris Weidman won’t be joining them at least until sometime next year though, but he doesn’t think the division is unclogged yet. “You have [Georges St-Pierre] possibly fighting [Robert] Whittaker, but no one really believes that’s going to happen — even though Dana White is swearing up and down about it. There’s just no certainty about who’s going to be champion in the next year in the UFC. Who am I going to be able to take the belt from? I guarantee you it’s not gonna be ‘GSP.’ [St-Pierre’s next opponent will be Tyron Woodley] or if they really sell out, Conor McGregor. [St-Pierre] does find a way to outsmart people. I’ll never underestimate ‘GSP.’ He’s proved time and time again how good he really is and as much as I might think, looking how the other guys in the middleweight division are bigger and stronger and have different things than him, I won’t underestimate ‘GSP.’ He can do it all.”

Tom Taylor - October 29, 2017

Last night, on the undercard of the UFC’s action-packed stop in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu ace Antonio Carlos Junior picked up a dominant, first-round submission win over Jack Marshman. While this win dazzled those watching live in Brazil and on screens around the world, it’s just what the Brazilian himself expected. “I said before [in] the interviews, man, I’m going to submit the guy – he’s never been submitted before – in the first round,” Carlos Junior told MMAJunkie.com of this big win. “And I just did it. So I’m really happy. I’m not even in my prime.”

Chris Taylor - September 23, 2017

Former UFC middleweight kingpin Chris Weidman picked up his first win in over two years this past July. “The All-American” scored a third-round submission victory over surging division contender Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of UFC on FOX 25 on July 22 from Long Island.

Justin Golightly - September 2, 2017

In November, Georges St-Pierre and Michael Bisping will fight for the middleweight title at Madison Square Garden while others in the division wait. With two wins in Chris Weidman’s last five fights, combined with his division’s title picture, Weidman is looking for other options. Weidman mentioned last month that he was thinking about a move to light heavyweight, but yesterday he talked more about the potential jump. It looks like this is something he’s seriously considering. “If 185’s not somewhere I’m going to fight for the title in the next two years or a year and a a half… who knows? If I do everything right, that’s just crazy to me. Who knows… 205 [pounds], we’ll see. I mean I’m open. I just want the belt. I would definitely consider it. I think I would be good at 205, but it would have to be the right thing. It would have to be where I know to find my way to the title. I’m not looking to fight just to fight. I want the belt. If there’s a clear path at 205, then that’s where I’ll head.”

Justin Golightly - August 17, 2017

After suffering three straight losses to the top of the division’s heap, Chris Weidman finally secured a win over Kelvin Gastelum. The luck of the All-American may be looking up, but the outlook of the UFC’s middlweight division he calls home is still murky. Georges St-Pierre swooped down like some MMA super hero and cut everybody in line to fight Michael Bisping. With an already arduous path back to title contention, Weidman is getting together a contingency plan and thinks he found a short cut to another UFC belt by moving up. That’s right, Weidman could move up to light heavyweight. “Yeah, definitely there has to be a clear picture. Like I said, my goal is to be the champ and there’s no way of me getting to have the belt for two years or more just based on other people taking their time with taking fights. It’s a weird place to be, it’s not interesting. I mean, if 185 doesn’t like, things don’t change, I want to maybe think about possibly going to 205. So we’ll see.”

Justin Golightly - August 10, 2017

As much as MMA is always about bitter rivalries, with or without wolf tickets, it’s also about bromance. Think about all the iconic images this sport has given to us that celebrate the love between fighters: BJ Penn clutching onto Matt Hughes while riding on a motorcycle, Nick and Nate Diaz scowling in unison, Wanderlei Silva overjoyed in the arms of Shogun Rua, it goes on and on. Chris Weidman and Aljamain Sterling just added to this rich history while spitting some bars.

Tom Taylor - August 7, 2017

Last month, in the main event of the UFC’s debut in Long Island, New York, New York’s own Chris Weidman picked up an impressive submission win over surging middleweight contender Kelvin Gastelum. While Weidman managed to secure the win, however, he did not escape the fight unscathed. In the first round, the former champ was blasted by a crushing Gastelum punch – the impact of which happened to be brilliantly captured on camera by veteran combat sports photographer Esther Lin. Ever the good sport, Weidman shared this image of himself getting punched in the face on Twitter after the fight. And though he didn’t expect such a reaction, the image became something of a viral sensation.

bjpenndotcom - July 26, 2017

This past weekend, former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman picked up a much needed win as he defeated Kelvin Gastelum via submission to snap a 3-fight skid that saw ‘The All American’ go winless for two years. Following the win, Weidman called for a fight with middleweight champion Michael Bisping in his post-fight Octagon interview. He then called out the champ on social media in the days following the fight, mocking Bisping for having a crossed eye, an injury sustained during a fight. Bisping shot back, understandably mad that a fight injury was the root of Weidman’s insult.

Chris Taylor - July 23, 2017

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman picked up a much needed win at last night’s UFC on FOX 25 event, submitting surging contender Kelvin Gastelum with an arm-triangle choke in the third-round of their main event fight. The victory snapped a three-fight losing skid for the “All American”, as Weidman had previously suffered knockout losses to Luke Rockhold, Yoel Romero and Gegard Mousasi respectively.

Chris Taylor - July 23, 2017

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman scored his first win since May of 2015 at last night’s UFC on FOX 25 event. The “All American” submitted surging division contender Kelvin Gastelum via arm triangle choke in the third-round of their main event fight from Long Island, New York.