Former UFC champion Chris Weidman enters UFC 292 feeling disrespected by the promotion. Weidman meets Brad Tavares Saturday night in a feature prelim bout that will air live on ESPN and ABC.
UFC 292: Chris Weidman Disrespected By Prelim Placement
Former UFC champion Chris Weidman is used to competing in the main event.
That is why he is feeling a little unsettled coming into his return bout set for UFC 292 Saturday night.
Weidman meets Brad Tavares in a featured preliminary fight that will take place before the pay-per-view main card. The bout airs live on ESPN and ABC, while streaming on ESPN+.
“It’s kind of disrespectful, to be honest,” Weidman said during an interview with ESPN. “I’m not going to pretend like it’s not.
“To be out for two years, with a broken injury – I broke my leg on the mats in the UFC on a pay-per-view card – first card ever since COVID, first fully packed arena. I put my body on the line and then they put me on a prelim?”
Weidman is returning for the first time since suffering a gruesome leg injury in a loss to Uriah Hall back at UFC 261. Over two years later, he has worked his way back to competing.
This, though, marks his first prelim placement for a bout since 2011 when he topped Tom Lawlor at UFC 139.
“I’m going to show out,” Weidman said. “You know what? It probably works out better for everybody at the end of the day because it’s a little bit of motivation.
“But all right mother-effers, you disrespect me like that? What do you think I’m done? Do you think I’m here to just see how I feel?
“No, I’m here to make a statement.”
Chris Weidman Seeking Big-Time Performance
The 39-year-old is looking for his first win since 2020 when he bested Omari Akhmedov in a return to middleweight. Weidman had moved up to light heavyweight to test his skills the year prior.
Overall, he is just 2-6 in his last eight fights, a run that started with a 2015 loss to Luke Rockhold for the middleweight title. After winning the belt vs. Anderson Silva, he successfully defended it three times vs. Silva, Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort.
“For me to be here, I’m more grateful than ever,” Weidman said. “I’m happy to be here. I didn’t know if I was really going to be able to come back.”
UFC 292 features Weidman’s teammate, Aljamain Sterling, defending his bantamweight title against Sean O’Malley.
