Chris Weidman return in the works vs. Bruno Silva at UFC Fight Night in Atlantic City
As if returning from one leg fracture wasn’t enough, former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman is about to do it again.
Weidman (15-7 MMA, 11-7 UFC) is expected to meet Bruno Silva (23-10 MMA, 4-4 UFC) roughly seven months after suffering a left leg fracture in his last fight. Weidman vs. Silva is in the works for March 30 at UFC Fight Night in Atlantic City, N.J. Two people with knowledge of the situation confirmed the plans to MMA Junkie on Friday following an initial report from @MMAmeletto on X (formerly Twitter).
Neither Weidman nor Silva have signed bout agreements, but the two sides are in agreement.
Weidman, 39, is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Brad Tavares last August at UFC 292. Afterward, Weidman confirmed that he broke his left leg during the fight, which was likely caused by a Tavares leg kick. The fight against Tavares was Weidman’s first in more than two years after he suffered a gruesome broken right leg 17 seconds into a fight with Uriah Hall at UFC 261.
Weidman’s recovery from that injury was long and arduous as he feared his leg could’ve been amputated. After his performance against Tavares, some observers called for Weidman to retire, but that won’t be the case for at least one more fight.
Silva, 34, has lost four of his past five fights, with his lone victory a first-round finish of Tavares in April 2023. Silva followed up that win with back-to-back losses against Brendan Allen and most recently Shara Magmoedov this past October.
With the addition, here is the updated UFC Atlantic City lineup:
- Erin Blanchfield vs. Manon Fiorot
- Loopy Godinez vs. Virna Jandiroba
- Jacob Malkoun vs. Andre Petroski
- Bruno Silva vs. Chris Weidman