Chris Weidman’s admirable commitment to only fighting the best competition available will continue at UFC on FOX 25 in July.
The former UFC middleweight champ will meet Kelvin Gastelum on his home turf on Long Island with the hope of snapping a three-fight losing skid.
UFC officials today announced the middleweight bout between Weidman (13-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) and Gastelum (13-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) at a special news conference in Dallas ahead of Saturday’s UFC 211 pay-per-view.
UFC on FOX 25 takes place July 22 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y. The main card airs on FOX following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass, though the bout order hasn’t been finalized.
Despite mentioning the possibility of avoiding future fights in his native New York, Weidman, No. 7 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings, will return to action in a state where he’s experienced nothing but disappointment so far.
After losing the 185-pound belt to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194 in December 2015, Weidman faced Yoel Romero at UFC 205 this past November, which marked the UFC’s debut at Madison Square Garden in New York City. “All-American” got off to a good start in the fight, but then a devastating flying knee from Romero in the third round put Weidman down and out.
With a hope of getting back on track, Weidman, 32, fought Gegard Mousasi at UFC 210 in Buffalo in upstate New York in April. He had another good start, but Mousasi rallied and in the second round landed a pair of controversial, but legal, knees. The fight ended in a bizarre manner. Weidman was crushed by the loss, but vowed to return stronger.
He will get his opportunity to put a win on his record for the first time since May 2015 with the matchup against No. 13 Gastelum. “The Ultimate Fighter 17” winner was supposed to fight Anderson Silva at UFC 212 next month, but several weeks out from the fight was pulled due to a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) violation for marijuana stemming from his March win over Vitor Belfort at UFC Fight Night 106.
Gastelum, 25, knocked Belfort out in the first round of their fight, but due to the drug test failure the win was overturned to a no-contest. Nevertheless, Gastelum is riding a three-fight unbeaten streak which includes the Belfort fight and wins over Tim Kennedy and Johny Hendricks.
The latest UFC on FOX 25 card now includes:
For more on UFC on FOX 25, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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