Chris Weidman is booked to face Colby Covington at RAF 9 on May 30, a matchup the former UFC middleweight champion framed as a test of whether his wrestling pedigree still matters against one of MMA’s most vocal strikers.
Covington arrives with momentum. In RAF he had already recorded dominant wins over Luke Rockhold and Dillon Danis in his two RAF matches, and after his victory over Danis he singled out Weidman as his ideal opponent.
Weidman, a two-time All-American at Hofstra University turned UFC champion and a 2026 UFC Hall of Famer, answered that call in blunt terms. “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,” he said.
But Weidman mixed that weariness with defiance. “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,” he said, underlining the friction at the center of the matchup: Covington’s RAF form versus Weidman’s wrestling resume and long injury history.
Weidman’s own timeline complicates the narrative. He has not competed in a freestyle wrestling match in over 15 years; his last competitive wrestling match took place in 2009. He has also endured a brutal run of injuries — “31 surgeries,” he said — and he was preparing for a boxing match with Anderson Silva until a torn bicep forced him to withdraw.
Still, Weidman insisted he is training with purpose. “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,” he said. “I’m training as if it’s happening but I feel like there’s going to be an excuse.”
He pushed back against the idea that time has erased his competitive edge. “I still kind of have it,” he said, describing how he has been drilling positions against younger wrestlers and starting sessions “with the high school heavyweight kid.” “I was beating them up a little bit,” he added.
The booking matters today because it sets up a clash between two very different claims to relevance. Covington, on a run inside RAF after back-to-back dominant performances, has taken to calling out older, marquee names as a way to cement his standing. After the Danis fight he singled out Weidman specifically. Weidman, meanwhile, carries a resume that includes title runs at the highest level and a Hall of Fame nod he said left him surprised. “It’s a huge honor – I was completely caught off guard with it,” he said.
The tension in the story is obvious: Can a fighter who has not wrestled competitively since 2009 and who has undergone dozens of surgeries still rely on that foundational skill set against a younger, active opponent who has looked dominant in RAF? Weidman argues yes, and that argument is more than rhetorical; his wrestling credentials are the very thing Covington challenged when he named Weidman after beating dillon danis.
The immediate question for fans is whether the fight will actually happen on May 30. Weidman is preparing as if it will, but he also voiced skepticism that Covington will follow through, saying he expects “there’s going to be an excuse.” If it proceeds, the bout will be a high-stakes stylistic test: Covington’s pressure and pace against Weidman’s takedowns and wrestling IQ. If it does not, the booking will read, to Weidman’s frustration, like another missed opportunity for a definitive answer.
Either way, May 30 will clarify whether Covington’s momentum in RAF translates into wins over the names he has picked — or whether Weidman’s wrestling, even after years and surgery, still settles challenges cast by younger rivals.
