What’s the story?
Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman is all set to make his Octagon return, when he takes on former Strikeforce champ Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi has been calling for a high level opponent for some time now after his string of impressive performances, and who better to test himself against than the man who handed the great Anderson Silva his first loss in the UFC?
In case you didn’t know....
Weidman was once an undefeated phenom in the UFC’s middleweight division, collecting an untarnished record of 13-0 before then suffering two back-to-back losses and suffering the first defeats of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career. After two devastating losses and a string of injuries, Weidman is looking to make a statement against ‘The Dream Catcher’.
The heart of the matter:
No. 4-ranked Weidman and No. 5-ranked Mousasi are two of the biggest and most talented combatants the UFC’s 185-pound roster has to offer today, and they’ll collide in a contest that is likely to determine the next challenger for the division’s throne. Aside from Weidman’s losses, Mousasi is seeing better days as he is on a four-fight win streak over the likes of Thales Leites, Thiago Santos, Vitor Belfort, and most recently Uriah Hall. He has also knocked three out of the four of those men out, making him very dangerous at the moment.
What’s next?
With news breaking today that current middleweight champ Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping will be out until mid-year with a knee injury, perhaps an interim title bout could be on the horizon.
Sportskeeda’s Take:
The match-up between these two is an extremely interesting and entertaining one. Mousasi is currently on a massive high, but Weidman can not be overlooked after his dominance in the sport when he once reigned as champion.
