Chris Weidman hasn’t competed in a freestyle wrestling match in over 15 years but at his peak, the future UFC middleweight champion was a two-time All-American at Hofstra University. It’s because he has very legit credentials in the sport of wrestling that Weidman was admittedly surprised when Colby Covington suddenly called him out for a match in RAF.
Covington, who recently retired from the UFC, scored dominant wins over Luke Rockhold and Dillon Danis in his two RAF matches thus far but neither of his opponents actually come from a wrestling background. It was after his win over Danis that Covington singled out Weidman as his ideal opponent and so the matchup was booked for RAF 9 on May 30.
But with better wrestling accolades on his resume not to mention competing at a much bigger weight throughout his career, Weidman could only theorize that Covington must believe he’s taking on a beaten and broken man because otherwise this could be a disastrous match for him.
“I think he must think I’m dead or my body has just taken such a beating, which he’s right about that, 31 surgeries and stuff and I figure he’s trying to take that true All-American status from me,” Weidman told MMA Fighting. “But I’m surprised, too. I’m not Dillon Danis. I’m not Luke Rockhold when it comes to wrestling. It’s going to be a big step up for him.
“A part of me was super excited because I think I’m going to crush him but then the other part of me is like I don’t think he’s stepping in there with me. I’m training as if it’s happening but I feel like there’s going to be an excuse. Of course in this last RAF, Arman [Tsarukyan] wins and he calls out Colby and he’s like ‘Weidman can wait, let’s do this and I’ll beat Arman and then I’ll wrestle Weidman.’ I’m like here he goes. Here he goes, he’s running already.”
As of now, Covington is still booked against Weidman so it doesn’t appear there’s any concern about the matchup not actually happening.
When it comes to Weidman getting ready for his return to wrestling, he admits his last competitive match took place all the way back in 2009 when he was just getting started with his fighting career.
That said, the former UFC middleweight champion and 2026 UFC Hall of Famer doesn’t feel like he’s skipped a beat when it comes to his wrestling. Even Weidman was a little shocked that his wrestling skills haven’t diminished much as he started getting ready for the showdown against Covington.
“I still kind of have it,” Weidman said. “I go down to the wrestling room and the first day of me getting back to wrestling since my bicep tendon surgery and even before that, I hadn’t wrestled in forever, I was like I’m going to start with the high school heavyweight kid. He’s big and strong but he’s a high school kid so can’t get hurt, just work on my stuff, knock some rust off.
“Of course, it’s a day where all the college kids were in town during spring break or whatever and they all want to wrestle me. They start asking me and they were smaller than me. They can’t take me down. I was beating them up a little bit. So I still somehow have it. I don’t even know how. It’s actually fascinating to me that I somehow still can wrestle at a high level.”
Prior to his RAF debut being booked for Saturday, Weidman had signed for a boxing match against old foe Anderson Silva but he tore his bicep muscle getting ready for the fight and was forced to drop out.
While Weidman has likely closed the door on a potential return to MMA — unless the money is right — returning to wrestling was a perfect way to stay active as a competitor.
He’s anxious to get his first win over Covington at RAF 9 and then Weidman knows there are a long list of potential opponents, including a couple of top UFC middleweights, he could face on the mats.
“I always get asked ‘how would you have done with Khamzat when you were in your prime?’ So that would be a fun one,” Weidman said. “Bo Nickal would be a fun one. Luke Rockhold, get some revenge on him. I’d like to throw him around a little bit.
“Pat Downey, I lost to him in that grappling match but it was kind of stupid. There was no points in the first 10 minutes and then there was a two-minute overtime and if nobody scores, it was a draw. I took him down twice in the 10 minute [round] or maybe it was seven minutes … when we got to that two-minute overtime, I’m like I’m not going to a draw. So I went for a belly-to-belly suplex I hit on him earlier and I landed on my own damn back and he beat me. I think I’d beat him in wrestling, too. I’ve got to beat up Colby first.”
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