Chris Weidman plans one more title run upon UFC return: “I’m not coming back to be a B-rated fighter or a gatekeeper”

Chris Weidman has made it clear that he wants to pursue another UFC middleweight title run upon returning.

Between 2013 and 2015, Chris Weidman held the UFC middleweight championship and successfully defended it three times. However, after losing the belt to Luke Rockhold, Weidman has been on a terrible run of form that has seen him win just twice in the space of seven years.

In his most recent outing back in April 2021, he suffered a nasty broken leg in the opening seconds of his showdown with Uriah Hall. Ever since then, he’s been working as hard as he possibly can to get back into the Octagon.

He’s hoping to return to the cage in June and when he does, he’s made it known that he wants that gold back at 185 pounds.

“I’m not coming back to be a B-rated fighter or a gatekeeper or anything like that,” Weidman said. “I went through all this hell not to just comeback and be like that. I’m going to come back and try to get back what is mine, try and get that belt.”

Weidman shoots for the stars

“After analyzing these guys and watching the middleweight division these last two years, with everyone at the top of the division, I don’t think there’s any reason why I can’t beat those guys. I’m excited to work my way up and get there soon.”

“I have a lot of work to do, and I’m excited for the challenge. I’m not putting myself through this crap just to come back and like fight some guys that I know I can beat or have a big name fight. I’m trying to shock the world again. There’s not going to be too many people that are thinking I can come back, and that excites me. It puts a chip on my shoulder.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

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