Former champion Chris Weidman reportedly booked to return at UFC Atlantic City

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman is reportedly set to return to the Octagon in March at UFC Atlantic City.

According to MMA reporter, Laerte Viana, Weidman is booked to return on March 30 at UFC Atlantic City against Bruno Silva. The report indicates the fight has been agreed to but has not officially been signed. The event will take place at the Boardwalk Hall.

Weidman is coming off a decision loss to Brad Tavares back in August at UFC 292 in his return to the Octagon after breaking his leg in his fight against Uriah Hall. In his most recent fight, Weidman once again hurt his leg and revealed he fractured his leg. But, it wasn’t that bad and it would only take a couple of weeks of recovery.

“I got MRIs done on my tibia and fibula on both legs. Got MRIs on both of my knees and I’ve been waiting for results,” Chris Weidman stated regarding his health following his UFC 292 loss to Brad Tavares. “I got the results back. There was no ligament tears at all, so MCL, LCL, ACL, PCL, all those Ls, you don’t want to tear. That’s six months to a year of recovery, that kept me together.

“The ligaments are good. What did happen to me though, is I have a fracture on my left leg. So I guess he broke my leg with one of those leg kicks… Right below my knee is where it broke, upper tibia bone is what’s fractured. Recovery-wise, it’s not bad at all. Four weeks, four-week recovery, that’s it,” Weidman continued.

Weidman’s coach, Ray Longo, said after UFC 292 that he was hoping his next fight would be his retirement, and it’s uncertain if that will be the case.

Chris Weidman (15-7), as mentioned, is on a two-fight losing streak and is just 2-7 in his last nine fights. His last win came by decision over Omari Akhmedov in August of 2020. In his career, the former UFC middleweight champion holds notable wins over Anderson Silva, twice, Kelvin Gastelum, Lyoto Machida, and Vitor Belfort.

Bruno Silva (23-10) is on a two-fight losing streak and coming off a decision loss to Sharabutdin Magomedov at UFC 294. Before that, Silva was submitted by Brendan Allen. The Brazilian is 1-4 in his last five fights, with his lone win coming by TKO against Brad Tavares. Before the win over Tavares, he was submitted by Gerald Meerschaert and lost a decision to Alex Pereira. Silva has been in the UFC since 2021 and is 4-4 inside the Octagon.