Chris Weidman says he accepted short-notice fights against Edmen Shahbazyan and Yoel Romero

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman says he accepted short-notice matchups against Edmen Shahbazyan and Yoel Romero for UFC 250.

Weidman was set to fight Jack Hermansson in the main event of UFC Oklahoma City, which is one of the events the UFC planned on holding at Tachi Palace. Hermansson was likely not able to get to the United States as an international fighter, and it appears the UFC matchmakers were working quickly to find a replacement opponent.

On a recent Instagram live chat, the agent for Yoel Romero, Malki Kawa, confirmed that the UFC offered Romero the rematch with Weidman for UFC 250. Weidman has now confirmed that report, and also mentioned the UFC offered him a short-notice fight against Shahbazyan, the top prospect at 185lbs, as well.

Check out what Weidman recently wrote on his Twitter.

I just accepted my 3rd opponent in a week… sucks. Stay safe everyone !

— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) April 9, 2020

1st Hermanssson
2nd Edmem
3rd Romero

— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) April 9, 2020

I just accepted my 3rd opponent in a week… sucks. Stay safe everyone !

1st Hermanssson 2nd Edmem 3rd Romero

The Weidman vs. Hermansson fight would have been a fairly-even matchup between two fighters coming off of knockout losses, with Weidman losing to Dominick Reyes in his last fight and Hermansson getting knocked out by Jared Cannonier. The other two fights, though, appear to heavily favor Weidman’s opponents.

Shahbazyan is the top prospect in the UFC middleweight division and many view him as a future champion. He was supposed to fight Derek Brunson at UFC Portland before that event was canceled. As for Romero, he and Weidman previously met at UFC 205, with Romero winning the fight by brutal flying knee KO. With Romero coming off of a lackluster decision loss to Israel Adesanya at UFC 248 he needed a bounce-back fight and Weidman was just that guy. But with the UFC schedule being stalled right now due to COVID-19, none of these matchups will be going down anytime soon.

Who do you want to see Chris Weidman fight next?