After suffering a three fight losing streak from 2015 to 2017, Chris Weidman got back on the winning track by taking out Kelvin Gastelum via third-round submission at UFC on FOX 25 in July of 2017.
Unfortunately for the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion of the world, his momentum was halted by a thumb injury suffered during the fight, which has led to a couple of surgeries and more time on the sidelines than he may liked.
But don’t go forgetting about “All American” just yet, as the ex-division king declared on The MMA Hour once he returns to action, the rest of the 185-pound contenders will have their work cut out for them as he is confident he can right through the competition on his way back to the top
“I have some great fights coming for myself. I have accomplished a lot, but I am still young in my MMA career, as far as fights. I have a lot of great things coming. I’m not to the point where I am going to start looking back and wishing or saying ‘If I wasn’t injured for that, or this things would be different.’ I am very blessed in where I am in this sport. I am blessed for everything I have accomplished so far and I am blessed with the abilities that I have. When I speak and say I am the best in the world and have the capability to dominate everybody in my weight class, I really believe that. If I give half of my energy to this sport and really didn’t give 100-percent of my mental to this sport, then I could finish my career as a fan favorite; win some, lose some, win some big fights, lose some big fights. But I feel I really have the mentality and the physical abilities to completely dominate my weight class. I have to get back physically first with this hand, and get my mentality where I need to be and I can run through everybody.”
Can’t knock the confidence.
As it stands, “All American” currently secures the No. 4 spot on the official UFC rankings (full list here), and hasn’t been really affected by going 1-3 since 2015. With a pending return later this year, there won’t be a shortage of top challengers ready and willing to welcome back the former division king.
In the meantime, current champion Robert Whittaker will defend his title against Yoel Romero — who holds a violent knockout win over Weidman — in the main event of UFC 225 on June 9, 2018 in Chicago, Ill.