Chris Weidman eyes repeat finish of old rival Uriah Hall at UFC 261

Chris Weidman thinks history will repeat itself when he locks horns with Uriah Hall in April.

Former middleweight champion Weidman (15-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) faces Hall at UFC 261 on April 24 in a rematch of their first meeting a decade ago, when they threw down on the local scene in 2010.

Both young and undefeated at the time, Weidman got the best of Hall, as he  knocked out “Prime Time” in the first round to win the Ring of Combat middleweight title.

Weidman went on to win the UFC title by dethroning middleweight king Anderson Silva, then notched three successful title defenses before suffering his first career loss to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194.

Since then, it’s been a bumpy road for the NCAA Division I All-American wrestler, but he was able to snap his two-fight losing skid with an important win over in-form Omari Akhmedov in August.

Hall (16-9 MMA, 9-7 UFC) has also had his ups and downs since joining the UFC roster, but is currently enjoying his best run in years, having picked up a big finish over Silva in his last outing in October 2020.

At this point in their careers, Weidman thinks the rematch between him and Hall makes a lot of sense.

“We kind of grew up around each other in New York and our paths have crossed many times, and I just feel like it was a long time coming,” Weidman told Submission Radio. “We had that first fight. For the local scene, it was a huge fight. There was a lot of talk before the fight on who was gonna win. And everyone who was on his side thought he was unbeatable, everyone who was on my side thought I was unbeatable. And the way the fight ended up playing out was not really what most people would have expected at that time.

“They thought I was going to have to take him down and submit him, and they thought he was going to have to try and keep it standing and knocking me out. And I ended up knocking him out from the feet with the same left hook I hit Anderson Silva with. So, I know that fight was actually his first loss. Your first loss is something that’s hard to get over, so I know he wants that back, and I just don’t want to give it to him. There’s a lot of hype behind Uriah coming off three wins. I just think it’s the perfect match-up for us.”

Weidman knows he’ll be facing a much more experienced Hall especially in the grappling department, but sees himself finding similar success to their first outing with another quick finish.

“He’s gonna be more relaxed in there,” Weidman said. “I know he’s gonna be more relaxed than he was back then. Both of us with the experience we have, and he really is the most dangerous on the feet still just like he was back then, but I’m sure he’s got way better jiu-jitsu and wrestling. He’s watched my fights. I have way more things out there that he can draw from as well as me being able to draw off of his fights. So, it’s definitely going to be different. But I plan on going out there and finishing him again, and first round sounds good to me”

The pair were initially booked for UFC 258 on Feb. 13, but the fight was scrapped after Weidman tested positive for COVID-19. Weidman is ultimately grateful that the fight was pushed a couple of months later and says he is in peak form despite still recovering from COVID.

“I get a little bit more time to get in better shape,” Weidman said. “My last fight, I felt like I was a little tired in that fight, and I wanna make sure I’m in really unbelievable shape for this fight. So, it gives me more time to focus on really getting my body where it needs to be. So, I think it’s a blessing in disguise.”

He continued, “I gotta say, I’m a freakin beast right now,” Weidman said. “I’m a different animal right now. I feel good, minus the Corona. I really am fully engaged and motivated to go out there and make a statement, and I’m going to be very hard to beat. So, I’m coming at him, and I could see me finishing him in the first round again. I could also see me breaking his will and it might head to second or third round, but I’m gonna finish him.”