Chris Weidman sees title shot against Adesanya in future
A lot of sports fans love a comeback story. There is probably no greater comeback in the UFC than what Chris Weidman has gone through, at least when it comes to devastating injuries in the sport. Weidman will return at UFC 292 after his gruesome leg injury back in April 2021. However, he is not just content with stepping into the octagon again after recovering from a severely broken leg — he has his sights set on the belt as his competitiveness pushes him to achieve a title shot.
Weidman speaking on his “Won’t Back Down” podcast on SiriusXM shared this.
“And just climb up the rankings, earn my way back to a title fight, I love the champion, Israel Adesanya,” he said. “I love that matchup. … I am on a mission to make that happen.”
(Chris Weidman)
"It's not just for this one fight and to be done."
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) June 7, 2023
MSG card, regaining the MW title and more… @chrisweidman speaks for the FIRST time since his UFC return was announced.
Hear from Chris exclusively on the Won't Back Down podcast https://t.co/U4EAYlOMoy pic.twitter.com/vCI29iYVOe
This attitude is a good sign from Weidman as catastrophic injuries not only plague athletes physically, but mentally as well. This mindset will help him in his upcoming fight and it will help him achieve success as he continues his career.
He talked about putting on a great performance against Brad Tavares in his first fight back. However, I do not blame the former champion for wanting more after his lengthy layoff from the sport.
Undoubtedly, it is difficult to become a UFC champion, but Weidman can start his journey back to the belt at UFC 292. Win or lose, it will be nice to see Weidman back in the octagon and it will be interesting to see if the 39-year-old fighter has enough left in the tank for one more title-shot push.
Chris Weidman has his work cut out for him if he wants to face Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and there are some other contenders that will likely get their title shot first. The good thing for Weidman is Adesanya has already defended his belt against a lot of the contenders, but the two fighters that are most likely to get the next shot are Robert Whittaker and Dricus Du Plessis.
These two fighters are set to face off on July 8 at UFC 290.
Whittaker is 8-2 in his last ten fights with both losses coming to Adesanya in championship fights. However, his last fight against Adesanya was a close fight that some thought Whittaker won.
Du Plessis is a prospect that has put together a nice win streak and he is some fresh blood for the champion to face. Nevertheless, the Middleweight division is not one of the strongest divisions in the UFC, so a couple of wins from Chris Weidman could put him in the title picture to face Adesanya.
