- Chris Weidman took part in a grappling match and hinted at his looming UFC return since his horrible leg injury in 2021
- The former UFC champion is out to prove his “haters” wrong
Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman competed for the first time since his gruesome leg injury in 2021. Though it wasn’t an MMA match, “The All-American” was overwhelmed by emotion in his return.
A dramatic comeback
Weidman recently participated in a grappling match at Polaris 23. And though he lost via decision to Owen Livesey, the former champ was happy to have finally made it back to his competitive form.
“These last two years have been the hardest years of my life,” Weidman said after the match. “I don’t want to cry, I’m not going to cry, but I don’t know if you know this, but I snapped my leg in half in April 2021, and I wasn’t sure I was ever going to be able to compete again in anything, and so to able to come out here and put a show for you guys, win or lose, is truly, truly a dream,” Weidman said during his post-match interview.
Something for the haters
It can be recalled that Weidman suffered one of the worst injuries in UFC history during his showdown with Uriah Hall at UFC 261. Due to the severity of his injury, Weidman is well aware that some “haters” think he’s no longer the high-level fighter he was. However, “The All-American” insists to prove them wrong as he teased his potential and long-awaited UFC return.
“I want to thank all my supporters, anybody who had my back, said prayers for me, throughout this time off because I really felt that support. And all you haters that just think I suck and think I should retire, thanks for the motivation. Cause I’m gonna prove you guys wrong when I get to a UFC fight,” Weidman added.
Weidman broke into the scene after ending Anderson Silva’s seven-year reign as the UFC middleweight champion at UFC 162. Since then, he successfully defended his title three times before losing to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194 in 2015.
Weidman has gone 2-5 in his last seven fights under the UFC banner but is still regarded as one of the best middleweights at present.
Welcome back Chris Weidman 🇺🇸#Polaris23 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 on #UFCFIGHTPASS pic.twitter.com/YUyrSzztyy
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) March 11, 2023
