Chris Weidman wants either a title shot, or a title eliminator fight when he returns to the cage.
Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman has his eyes set on gold when he makes his return to the Octagon.
“The All-American” has been out of action since July 2017, as he required surgery to his thumb following his win over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC on FOX 25. The win meant Weidman snapped a three-fight losing streak.
Two men that handed Weidman two of those losses were Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero, who now will throw down for the interim middleweight title at UFC 221 on February 10th, due to the current undisputed champion Robert Whittaker recently suffering a staph infection.
Depending on how long Whittaker will be on the sidelines for, Weidman is keen to avenge his losses against either Rockhold or Romero in his next fight.
“I can see myself potentially jumping in there for a title shot against maybe the winner of the fight coming up [between Rockhold and Romero],” Weidman told Marc Raimondi (via MMA Fighting).
“I’d get a rematch with Rockhold which has been a long time coming. We were supposed to have that rematch right away and my surgery held that up. Or Yoel Romero. Both those fights would be great.”
For Weidman, there is also interest in a title eliminator fight with Ronaldo Souza, who fought last Saturday when he picked up a first-round TKO against Derek Brunson in their rematch at UFC on FOX 27.
“That fight does intrigue me,” he said. “I love ‘Jacare.’ I’m a fan of ‘Jacare.’ I just feel like he would be a great test for me. We’ve been around each other for a long time in the division. We never fought. And I would love to test myself against him.”
Although Weidman (14-3) has still not fully recovered from his thumb surgery, he has stated he is looking to return to fighting in early summer.