Former UFC Middleweight Champ Chris Weidman Is Now Completely And Utterly Delusional

Chris Weidman was once on top of the UFC world.

Weidman, a Long Island native, stunned the world at UFC 162 when he knocked out the legendary Anderson Silva to win the UFC middleweight title.

At that point, Weidman was 10-0 in his UFC career, just 28 years old, and seemingly the future of the company.

He defended his belt three times. First against Silva and then fellow Brazilian legends Lyoto Machida and Vitor Befort.

But it’s been all downhill since that point. Weidman lost his title via TKO to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194. That was the start of a three-fight losing streak.

After starting his career 13-0, Weidman is now 15-6 with all six losses coming via knockout or TKO. He’s also now 38 years old.

But Weidman isn’t calling it quits. Instead, he says that he has what it takes to dethrone current middleweight title holder Israel Adesanya.

“Listen, that’s the dream,” Weidman said recently on The MMA Hour. “No one [on the active roster has] accomplished what I’ve accomplished in the middleweight division besides Israel Adesanya as far as title defenses and all that. I love that matchup. I think once people see me back out there and see that I’m not this old bum at this point, and they see that I have some serious threats to bring to the table, I believe I’m a really bad matchup for him.

“But I have to prove that, and so until then I’ll shut my mouth and just go out there and prove it against Brad Tavares. I think they’ll see enough in that fight where they’ll believe.”

Fans weren’t exactly sold on the idea.

Weidman’s next fight is against fellow veteran Brad Tavares on Aug. 19 at UFC 292.  He has a chance to make a statement with a win in that fight.

But even then, he’s a long way from even being in the discussion for a potential shot at Adesanya’s title.