When it comes to mixed martial arts, Chris Weidman’s passion still burns strong.
The former middleweight champion is scheduled to return to action in his home state on November 16th when he takes on Eric Anders at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden in New York. It’s been a long road to recovery for Weidman since sustaining a nasty broken bone in a loss to Uriah Hall at UFC 261 in April 2021. “The All-American” won on March 30, his first victory since the injury, following a controversial technical decision. Defeated Bruno Silva at UFC on ESPN 54.
Weidman turned 40 in June, and given his injury history (he claims to have had 30 surgeries on his entire body, including 14 on his legs alone), the finish line is in sight. It is reasonable to think that there may be. For now, he’s still enjoying MMA and doesn’t plan on making any rash decisions no matter what happens at UFC 309. But he’s also realistic about his long-term future in the sport.
“I’m pretty much going to take it fight by fight,” Weidman recently told MMAFighting.com. “I’ll make a decision after the game. Win or lose, I’m not going to hang up my gloves. But I’m going to try not to make any hasty decisions.
“Right now, I’m still feeling great. I’m excited. I love training. I love being in camp. I love that whole discipline and how it allows me to maintain a daily routine. I love it. It’s really addictive. I’m very competitive, so this is like the ultimate best thing for me. But obviously I can’t do it forever. We have to take it one fight at a time and weigh all the pros and cons to see where we are.”
Weidman recently experienced a harsh reality outside of mixed martial arts while attending a baseball game with his son.
UFC 309: Jones vs. Miocic. Saturday at 10 a.m. ET on ESPN+. Order now!
“I still feel great in MMA, I still feel great on the mat. Even after all these surgeries, I can’t believe I’m 40 years old, I still feel great. I’m with these young fighters. We’re going to go and do as well as we always do. It’s the best we’ve ever had,” Weidman said. “But when it comes to other sports, I feel like I’ve slowed down. Being a sport specific to MMA, my body has adapted and I feel like I need to stay away from situations that could hurt me. I know I have an advantage in the position I’m going to be in. But I played baseball with my son the other day. Both of my kids are on a travel baseball team.
“They had guns out to gauge speed because they had to see who could throw harder. And I was never the fastest thrower, but my 12-year-old son “He wasn’t going to beat me about the speedometer.” He hit me hard. He threw 62, I threw 51, and my shoulder hurt and I felt terrible. It’s over after about 2 pitches. It was terrible. Then we had to switch things up and see if your kid could throw to you and strike you out as if it were a real game, you have the ball and everything. I’m here, referee. He struck me out, and I want to say that I truly believe that wouldn’t have happened 10 years ago. I think I’ll throw harder, and I think I’ll be hitting the ball off of him. I certainly felt like I was getting older by doing things like that. But I still feel good when I’m in the MMA gym. ”
Of course, a lot will depend on how Weidman performs against Anders on fight night, but he feels confident based on his training.
“To be honest, I’m still taking it match by match to see how I feel and how I perform. My body feels good in the gym right now. , your performance in the gym is great, but you have to be able to perform under the lights,” he said.
“I mean, at my age and everything, at this point I’m just going to fight to fight. Just see how I feel and play from there.”
