“I was looking for some other guys ranked higher,” Weidman said. “I was saying (Jack) Hermansson, and I was saying Derek Brunson and they both weren’t going to be ready in time. So the UFC told me to wait until after International Fight Week (July). And I was going to wait, and they said they could get me back in there September, October, November. And I was ready to fight earlier, and I wanted to get back out there. And then they called me back and they said, ‘Actually, if you’re interested, Brad Tavares.’ I said, you know what, that’s a tough guy. That’s a guy who Israel Adesanya couldn’t finish. That’s a guy who Dricus Du Plessis couldn’t finish; he had a barnburner with him. So I would love to be able to have that opportunity to go out there and be able to finish him and show that I’m not just coming back, but I’m coming back and I’m on a different level.”
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That’s Chris Weidman. Not Chris Weidman 2.0 or 3.0, but the fighter that’s always had the attitude of fighting the best, no matter where he was at in his career. Remember, when Weidman debuted in the UFC, he had four pro fights. By his eighth, he was beating Demian Maia, his ninth, he knocked out Mark Munoz. In his tenth, he stopped future Hall of Famer Anderson Silva. And so on and so on. So while some may want to ease into a comeback, the “All-American” isn’t interested in such talk.
“I’m a prospect again,” Weidman said. “That’s what it feels like. I really feel like I have a second career here and I’m trying to run up the thing. I feel like I’m back to when I was 6-0, 7-0, trying to come up and get that fight with Anderson Silva and I had to make some statements. And so these next two fights to me are my Demian Maia and Mark Munoz fights. I feel like I got two more fights and then I’m fighting for the belt and taking out Adesanya. That’s the goal.”
