Chris Weidman targeted for return against Bruno Silva at UFC Atlantic City
Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman aims to continue his return to the octagon this spring when he faces Bruno Silva at UFC Fight Night 239.
UFC FN 239 is to go down on March 30, 2024, live from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The 39-year-old former champion is coming off back-to-back injuries where his right leg was broken in half just 17 seconds into his rematch with Uriah Hall (lost via TKO) at UFC 261, as well as a fractured left leg in his return bout against Brad Tavares (lost via UD) at UFC 292.
After opening up his career with a perfect 13-0 record as the three-time defending UFC middleweight champion with two wins over former longtime champion Anderson Silva (KO, TKO), as well as former light-heavyweight champions Lyoto Machida (UD) and Vitor Belfort (TKO), Weidman has since gone 2-7 over the course of his latest nine appearances since 2015.
Weidman looks to secure his first win since 2020 however when he takes on the dangerous 34-year-old knockout artist Bruno Silva.
Silva debuted in the UFC octagon in 2021 following a near three-year layoff, defeating former Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko (KO) and M-1 Challenge middleweight champion Artem Frolov (TKO), both in 2018, in his two most recent appearances prior to joining, winning the M-1 title in his fight against Frolov.
At this time Silva had gone 17-1 over the course of his last 18 after opening up his career with a record of 5-5.
Upon return however Silva would rack up three-straight knockout victories to begin his UFC tenure, before losing to eventual champ-champ Alex Pereira (UD) and Gerald Meerschaert (guillotine choke).
Silva would rebound with a win over Brad Tavares (TKO), before dropping his latest two appearances to no. 8 ranked Brendan Allen (rear naked choke) and undefeated debutante Sharabutdin Magomedov (UD), a fight many believed he should’ve gotten the nod in.
The intriguing thing about this matchup is that they’re one another’s kryptonite:
Of Weidman’s seven career defeats, six come via knockout; 20 of Silva’s 23 professional wins come via knockout.
On the contrary, of Silva’s 10 career defeats, seven come via submission.
Weidman is one of the better pure MMA grapplers our beloved sport has ever seen. He’s a high-level NCAA Division I wrestler with a black belt in BJJ under 5th-degree black belt Matt Serra and 7th-degree coral belt Renzo Gracie.
This is going to be a good one you don’t want to miss!
Who walks away from this 185 lb affair at UFC Atlantic City the victor?
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