Morning Report: Chris Weidman details his battle with COVID-19: ‘I ended up losing 12 pounds throughout the process’

Chris Weidman vs Vitor Belfort | Esther Lin Next weekend, UFC 258 takes place and the co-main event was supposed to feature a pivotal rematch in the middleweight division between former champion Chris Weidman and Uriah Hall. Unfortunately, last week that bout was postponed when Weidman tested positive for COVID-19, an experience which Weidman says was extremely unpleasant.
“First couple of days definitely sucked pretty bad,” Weidman told Submission Radio. “For about three days I had a fever, body aches, bad headache, and it just kind of sucked. And then after that, I just kind of felt tired. I would get these headaches randomly. Yeah, so I had to take about two weeks off training, and now I feel good and getting back in shape. But I guess taking two weeks off my proper training, even if I came back with no lingering effects, it’s just not the best timing for the fight. So, I didn’t expect to get my fight pushed back until April, I expected maybe a couple of weeks. But hopefully it’s a huge pay-per-view and a big opportunity, a big platform to be able to showcase my skills and make a big statement.
“I also lost 12 pounds. I was eating soups and stuff. My appetite wasn’t that great and I ended up losing 12 pounds throughout the process. Which, I was like, wow, my weight cut is not gonna be as bad, I really got my weight low.”
Weidman has plenty of time to put weight back on. His fight is currently tentatively targeted for UFC 261 on April 24. While initially, that extended postponement didn’t seem necessary to Weidman, after grappling with COVID-19, the former champion admits that taking the time off to recover properly was very important.
“[it happened] a couple of weeks ago. I tried, I thought I was gonna be able to fight, and then it really wasn’t an option,” Weidman said. “I’m good now, but it definitely took a little bit of an effect on me. There’s just so many question marks. Like, lingering effects. I went on antibiotics and I took the Medrol Pak. I wanted to make sure I didn’t have any long-term lung issues. That was one of the scariest that I’ve heard a couple of times. And what I was being told by doctors is, do not work out while you have it. Even if you start feeling good, because your body’s still fighting it. I was told that that’s kind of why people are getting these lingering effects, because they’re pushing a little bit too early. I know a few people now, even some of the athletes who are still coughing and still having lung issues after a year ago. Some guys who I know had it a year ago – well, one person I know had it last January – who still has lung issues. Very young and athletic and healthy person, but just kept training through it, and now still has some lung issues. And I know another person who’s coughing and stuff and had it a couple of months ago, another athlete. So, I feel good and I don’t feel like I have lingering effects because I really rested and made sure to do the right things.”
While most people who contract COVID-19 recover completely in a few weeks, some still continue to experience symptoms months after recovery. Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt is among the latter category, saying in November that he was still experiencing symptoms from COVID-19, nearly three months after the fact. Fortunately, it appears that Weidman has avoided this outcome and “The All-American” is looking forward to fighting again, and is glad that Uriah Hall stuck with him despite this setback.
“Yeah, I’m happy the UFC was able to keep this fight together because I really do like this match-up,” Weidman said. “I do like the rematch. And so for him, I’m sure he had a say, but if he was like ‘I need to fight,’ maybe they would have given him somebody else. So, for the fact that he was able to be cool and understand the situation and let them postpone it, even as far they did it – which I thought was at first crazy, but now I’m like, it makes sense, it’s supposedly going to be a big pay-per-view out in Singapore. So, they’ll probably be trying to get as many big names on that card as possibly to try and make sure it stays strong.”
“Yeah, I really appreciate Uriah for being cool and staying with me as a dance partner for this, because I think it’s a big fight for him and also for me too.”
Weidman and Hall first fought over 10 years at Ring of Combat 31 for the vacant middleweight title. At the time, Hall was 4-0 and Weidman was only 2-0 and Weidman ended up knocking out Hall with punches just three minutes into the fight. Things have changed a great deal since then though. Hall went on to finish as the runner-up on The Ultimate Fighter and has been a perennial top-15 middleweight for most of his run in the UFC. Meanwhile, Weidman won the UFC middleweight title and defended it multiple times but had a bad run after losing the title, dropping four of five with all of his losses coming by way of knockout. The former champion stopped the skid in his last bout though, winning a decision over Omari Akhmedov and with an impressive win over Hall later this year, Weidman believes he will be right back in title contention.
“To go out there and be able to finish Uriah Hall, I think puts me right back in the mix,” Weidman concluded. “Especially with my resume already. So, I’m excited, man. I really want to finish my career on a high note. I want to finish it with that belt in my hands and be able to walk away. And I know I got the potential to do it, and I just gotta stay active and keep working hard, and the sky’s the limit.”

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[h=1]VIDEO STEW[/h]What the Heck.


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[h=1]LISTEN UP[/h]The Bash. An interview with Jiri Prochazka.
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[h=1]SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE[/h]Retirement.
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[h=1]FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS[/h]Cody Stamann (19-3-1) vs. Askar Askar (11-1); UFC Vegas 18, Feb. 6.
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[h=1]FINAL THOUGHTS[/h]Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.

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[h=1]EXIT POLL[/h]

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