It's been a rough couple of years for Chris Weidman. Coming into Saturday night's match against Omari Akhmedov, the former middleweight champion had only one win in his six most recent fights dating back to his championship loss to Luke Rockhold in 2015. His last win had come against Kelvin Gastelum in 2017.
Weidman's most recent fight came in October 2019 as he attempted to move up to the light heavyweight division, citing his inability to cut weight due to previous injuries. Well, his run in the heavier division ended after his first-round knockout loss to Dominick Reyes.
So he returned to the middleweight division, where he had once held the belt, in desperate need of a win. And he got it by way of unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27 and 29-28).
Weidman looked sharp out of the gate, attempting multiple takedown attempts in the first round. While Akhmedov successfully defended the first three, Weidman was successful on the fourth. The former champion kept up relenting pressure throughout the round.
The script was flipped in the second as No. 11-ranked Omari Akhmedov took Weidman to the mat briefly. With Weidman clearly fatigued, Akhmedov became more aggressive in his striking and scored two takedowns before the round ended.
Though both fighters were gassed int he final round, Weidman showed his champion prowess, scoring two takedowns early on. While he almost locked in an arm triangle choke, Weidman's ground control throughout the round was enough to earn him the decision win and push his record to 15-5.