Chris Weidman vs Vitor Belfort | Esther Lin Chris Weidman is returning to the middleweight division next month.
A person with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Weidman will face Omari Akhmedov at the UFC’s event on Aug. 8, following an initial report by TASS. The fight card currently does not have a location but is expected to take place in Las Vegas.
Akhmedov confirmed the pairing via Instagram on Tuesday.
Weidman heads back down to 185 pounds following a one-fight stint in the light heavyweight division where he was finished in the first round by Dominick Reyes in the main event of UFC Boston this past October. “The All-American” looks to return to the form that lead to him becoming the UFC middleweight champion as he enters the bout with losses in two straight, and five out of six.
The 36-year-old looks to pick up his first win since submitting Kelvin Gastelum nearly three years ago.
Akhmedov has been surging as of late and is unbeaten in his last six fights. After a 5-3 start to his UFC career in the welterweight division, “The Wolverine” bumped up to 185 and fought Marvin Vettori to a majority draw at UFC 219. Since then, the No. 11 ranked middleweight has picked up consecutive unanimous decision wins over Tim Boetsch, Zak Cummings and Ian Heinisch.
The UFC’s Aug. 8 event is expected to be headlined by a heavyweight matchup between Derrick Lewis and Alexey Oleinik.


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