Chris Weidman is hoping to make a comeback by the end of the year.
Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman is hoping to make a comeback by the end of 2022 after being sidelined for over a year following a gruesome leg break suffered at the hands of Uriah Hall at UFC 261.
‘All-American’ revealed that sports broadcaster ESPN will be releasing a documentary that chronicles his road to recovery after suffering ‘the worst injury of all time’ (he’s not kidding) in 2021.
“It’s been very hard,” Weidman said of his recovery during a recent interview with Mike Heck of MMA Fighting (h/t Low Kick MMA). “Lots of ups and downs, a lot of issues and it just sucks I can’t put too much out there because I’m doing a documentary with ESPN, they’re doing an E60.
“So, they have the rights to everything, I can’t put out like me training or if I had really low spots where I had to get additional surgeries. I can’t put anything out there because they have the rights to it but it’s going to help them be able to tell the story in a great way.”
“They’re going to market it as the worst injury of all time and coming back from that because once you guys all find out what I’ve had to go through over these last 15 months, it’s been a lot. I’m excited for them to be able to tell that story finally, and I’m excited to come back and shock the world.”
“I’m hoping this year, yeah,” Weidman said when asked if he expects to return to competition by the end of the year.
The Serra-Longo product also revealed that he will be cornering one-time UFC title challenger Anthony Smith for ‘Lionheart’s’ upcoming fight against No. 4-ranked light heavyweight Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 277.
“July 30th, I’m actually cornering Anthony Smith. I don’t think I told anybody that yet. He’s been coming down to South Carolina to train with me and help him get ready. He’s got that title eliminator fight with Ankalaev so I’m excited to try to get him ready for that.”
Weidman, formerly a top ten middleweight, has been removed from the UFC rankings due to inactivity. His last win came in 2020 when he defeated Omari Akhmedov via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 174.