Chris Weidman shares plan for 2021: KO Uriah Hall and make a run at the belt

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman says he plans to KO Uriah Hall at UFC 261 and make another run at the belt he once held.

Weidman was supposed to fight Hall this weekend in the co-main event of UFC 258, but the fight was postponed until UFC 261 in April after Weidman caught COVID-19. Weidman was once the UFC middleweight champion and one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, but it’s been a struggle for him the last few years. Though he got back into the win column against Omari Akhmedov in his last fight, Weidman had lost five of six fights by knockout before that much-needed win. Despite the losing skid, however, Weidman has remained confident the whole time.

With the Hall fight now rescheduled, Weidman spoke to Submission Radio about what his plans are for the rest of the year. The former champ said that he feels like he’s in beast mode right now and he warned Hall that he’ll KO him again at UFC 261. And once he knocks Hall out for a second time — they previously fought in Ring of Combat — he plans on coming for that belt.

“I gotta say, I’m a freakin’ beast right now. I’m a different animal right now. I feel good, minus the coronavirus. I really am fully engaged and motivated to go out there and make a statement, and I’m going to be very hard to beat. So, I’m coming at him, and I could see me finishing him in the first round again. I could also see me breaking his will and it might head to second or third round, but I’m gonna finish him,” Weidman said (h/t Jesse Holland of MMAMania.com).

“A big win, a huge statement on pay-per-view, dominating finish definitely puts me back up in the mix. Whether it’s one, two, three fights until I’m fighting for the title, it definitely puts me back into the mix. To go out there and be able to finish Uriah Hall, I think puts me right back in the mix. Especially with my resume already. So, I’m excited, man. I really want to finish my career on a high note. I want to finish it with that belt in my hands and be able to walk away. And I know I got the potential to do it, and I just gotta stay active and keep working hard, and the sky’s the limit.”

Do you think Chris Weidman has what it takes to make another run for the UFC middleweight title?