Middleweights
Bruno Silva (23-10, 4-4 UFC) vs. Chris Weidman (15-7, 11-7 UFC)Things seem to be at the point where every fight for Weidman could wind up as the former middleweight champion’s last stand. The Long Islander had quite an amazing rise as a prospect, making his professional debut in 2009, his UFC debut in 2011 and ending Anderson Silva’s dominant title reign in 2013—even with an injury layoff taking Weidman out of action for about a year. That seemingly set Weidman up as one of the UFC’s next big stars, but despite his holding the belt for about two and a half years, he never truly captured everyone’s imagination. What was shaping up to be a dominant title defense against Silva ended suddenly when Weidman checked a kick and shattered the Brazilian’s leg; and Weidman himself suffered repeated injuries that resulted in some long layoffs before losing the belt to Luke Rockhold at the end of 2015. Weidman never really got back in the groove from there. The sport moved past his game a bit, and while he did well to try and add some new weapons to his approach, he still could not get many wins over the finish line against better athletes, particularly as Weidman’s injuries kept piling up and leaving him further diminished. Then came his 2021 bout against Uriah Hall—one of the cruelest instances of irony in mixed martial arts history. Matched with perhaps the most prominent of the “next Anderson Silvas” that popped up over the last decade, Weidman threw a kick that was checked and broke his leg, echoing the most infamous fight of the American’s career. Weidman returned two years and change later against Brad Tavares in August, and while he looked better than the complete worst-case scenario, there also was not much cause for optimism going forward. His toughness and aggression are still there and he even found some moments of success, but he still suffered another major leg injury and ate a ton of damage against one of the most pathologically patient middleweights on the roster.
Silva does not figure to be quite that forgiving, even if the Brazilian does have plenty of issues of his own. “Blindado” made his UFC debut in 2021 and was primarily a berserker who looked to hunt for the knockout and figure out the rest later. While Silva has tried to develop some patience over the years as he has run into some losses, he usually just winds up swinging hammers at some point and finds his most success in those moments. Silva is quite abysmal on the mat, so Weidman does have a path to victory if he can score a takedown or two, but there is also nothing to suggest the former champion can hold up whenever the Brazilian finds his moments to turn this into a brawl. The pick is Silva via first-round knockout.
Jump To »
Blanchfield vs. Fiorot
Luque vs. Buckley
Silva vs. Weidman
Ruziboev vs. Dumas
Algeo vs. Nelson
Njokuani vs. McKee
The Prelims