Chris Weidman doubles down on Israel Adesanya call out ahead of UFC 292: ‘I’m not this old bum at this point’
Ahead of his Octagon return from a catastrophic leg injury suffered back in 2021, former undisputed middleweight champion, Chris Weidman has doubled down on his interest in a future title fight with gold holder, Israel Adesanya – maintaining he still poses threats to the Nigerian-Kiwi.
Weidman, a former undisputed middleweight champion under the banner of the promotion, has been sidelined since he featured in a rematch against Uriah Hall back in April 2021, suffering a shocking compound fracture of his right tibia and fibula inside the opening half a minute of the first round.
Yet to return to the Octagon in the time since, Weidman is now-slated to fight at UFC 292 in Boston, Massachusetts – taking on soon-to-be common-foe, Brad Tavares in a pay-per-view card.
Chris Weidman believes he can pose a threat to champion, Israel Adesanya
And following the booking of his return against Tavares later this year, Weidman admitted that he hoped to work his way back to a title fight against Adesanya – now doubling down on those calls, claiming he could pose many problems to the City Kickboxing staple.
“No one accomplished what I’ve accomplished in the middleweight division besides Israel Adesanya as far as title defenses and all that,” Chris Weidman told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “I love that matchup. I think once people see me back out there and see that I’m not this old bum at this point, and they see that I have some serious threats to bring to the table, I believe I’m a really bad matchup for [Israel Adesanya].”
“But, I have to prove that, and so until then, I’ll shut my mouth and just go out there and prove it against Brad Tavares,” Chris Weidman explained. “I think they’ll see enough in that fight where they’ll believe.”
Sidelined since he headlined UFC 287 back in April of this year, Adesanya managed to reclaim the middleweight title with a spectacular second round KO win over arch-rival, Alex Pereira in Miami, Florida.
