Chris Weidman still training, hoping to return “middle of next year,” reveals Stephen Thompson

Chris Weidman has made it known he will make the walk to the Octagon again.

At UFC 261, Weidman broke his leg in a gruesome fashion as just 17 seconds into the fight, he threw a leg kick that Uriah Hall blocked and his leg snapped in half. It was a major injury that resulted in multiple surgeries but Weidman is back in the gym and getting closer to a return.

Over the past few months, Wideman has provided some updates on his injury and has said he will fight again. Now, according to his brother-in-law and close friend and training pattern in Stephen Thompson, he says Weidman is targeting a mid-2023 return.

“I don’t know, maybe the middle of next year would be a good time for him to come back. Get the right training camp,” Thompson said to BJPENN.com. “The guy is always working out, it’s just not a part of him to not work out. He’s great, he’s a big heavy guy right now, very strong, he’s been training. He helped me out with my last training camp and he has some guys he has been helping out as well. But, hopefully, the middle of next year would be prime for him and I will be in his corner.”

Who Weidman will fight in his return is uncertain, but even if he can make the walk to the Octagon again it would be an incredible feat.

Chris Weidman (15-6) is coming off the injury loss to Hall and before that, he returned to middleweight and beat Omari Akhmedov by decision. The win over the Russian snapped his two-fight losing skid as he was KO’d by Dominick Reyes in his light heavyweight debut and was knocked out by Jacare Souza. In his career, Weidman also holds notable wins over Anderson Silva, twice, Kelvin Gastelum, Vitor Belfort, Demian Maia, and Lyoto Machida, and is the former UFC middleweight champ.

Do you think we see Chris Weidman fight again?