Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman has been recovering from thumb surgery since this past September.
Weidman's recovery process from the injury has been a long and strenuous process, however, and has been halting his return to the Octagon. Weidman recently spoke to MMA Junkie to talk about his recovery process and who he wants to fight upon his return.
"The All American" said that he'd like to return to fighting this summer. Weidman hopes to get cleared for a return soon so that he can make it onto one of the UFC's July cards, which the promotion is already starting to put together (quotes via MMA Junkie):
“I’m hoping in the next six weeks my health will turn around and I can get a couple training sessions in, get confidence in it that I can use it and then get something booked,” Weidman told MMAjunkie Radio.
“I would hope something in the early summer, but the injury I had is pretty serious. The surgery, it’s almost like doing the ACL on the hand. They restructured the ligament.
"They took ligaments from my wrist to create new ligaments in the base of my thumb. Hands, they take a little time to heal. It’s not the quickest body part to get a surgery on. It takes time.
“I thought ‘Jacare’ was the one I was going to be fighting, but the hand is taking longer than I wanted it to be,” Weidman said.
“‘Jacare’ would be great fight for No. 1 contendership. Now that I wasn’t able to take that fight in the time I wanted, I couldn’t commit to it. I don’t know what’s next.
“I really don’t know who I would be fighting. Obviously I want to get back to that title fight, and whoever I’ve got to fight to get there, I’m willing to do it.”
What are your thoughts on Weidman saying that he wants to come back to the cage sometime this summer? Do you think that he'll get cleared in time for a fight during that time frame? And will the UFC actually book him so close after being cleared to return to fighting? Let us know your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below!
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