Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman contracted COVID-19 and was pulled from a rematch vs. Uriah Hall at UFC 258 on February 13, 2021. During a recent interview with the must-listen Submission Radio, “The All American” talked about it.

[iIt happened] a couple of weeks ago,” said Weidman. “I tried, I thought I was gonna be able to fight, and then it really wasn’t an option.

First couple of days definitely sucked pretty bad. I had a fever, and I’ll just say about ten people I know had it at the same exact time, and I probably had it the worst. Which is weird. People way older than me that were out of shape had it a little bit better than me for whatever reason. I don’t know.

“For about three days I had a fever, body aches, bad headache, and it just kind of sucked. And then after that, I just kinda 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 till 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.

I’m good now, but it definitely took a little bit of an effect on me,” said Weidman. “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.

Weidman is now back in training, and preparing for the rematch, which is set for UFC 261 on April 24. The first fight took place over a decade ago. In just his third fight, Weidman beat the formerly 4-0 Hall at ROC 31 via TKO at 3:06 of Round 1, at on September 24, 2010, winning the Ring of Combat middleweight championship.

I gotta say, I’m a freakin beast right now,” he said. “I’m a different animal right now. I feel good, minus the Corona. I really am fully engaged and motivated to go out there and make a statement, and I’m going to be very hard to beat. So, I’m coming at him, and I could see me finishing him in the first round again. I could also see me breaking his will and it might head to second or third round, but I’m gonna finish him.

He’s gonna be more relaxed in there. I know he’s gonna be more relaxed than he was back then. Both of us with the experience we have, and he really is the most dangerous on the feet still just like he was back then, but I’m sure he’s got way better Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling. He’s watched my fights. I have way more things out there that he can draw from as well as me being able to draw off of his fights. So, it’s definitely going to be different. But I plan on going out there and finishing him again, and first round sounds good to me.

Weidman is coming off a unanimous decision win over Omari Akhmedov at UFC Vegas 6 on August 8, 2020. He believes a dominating performance will bring him much closer to his goal of retiring as UFC middleweight champion.

“A big win, a huge statement on pay-per-view, dominating finish definitely puts me back up in the mix,” said Weidman. “Whether it’s one, two, three fights until I’m fighting for the title, it definitely puts me back into the mix. Akhmedov at the time he was more unknown, but he was on a six-fight winning streak. Then I beat him, but I didn’t get too much acknowledgement out of that. But he did just have another finish. First or second-round finish. I think it helped my win look even better. And to go out there and be able to finish Uriah Hall, I think puts me right back in the mix. 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.”