Chris Weidman Focused on Middleweight but ‘Absolutely’ Has Designs on Light Heavyweight One Day

Chris Weidman still has designs on testing the waters at light heavyweight but first things first, he wants to reclaim the middleweight championship he lost nearly three years ago.

At UFC 230, Weidman can all but secure a shot at the title if he gets past noted grappler Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza, which is why he’s not really thinking about a move to 205-pounds right now.

That said, Weidman can’t deny that his size would fit perfectly in the light heavyweight division so that move is still in the works for the future.

“Absolutely,” Weidman answered when asked if he was still considering a shift to light heavyweight. “But as you said, I’m a fight away from getting a title shot. I was in contention to get that title fight right now before this fight. I win this fight, it solidifies me again to fight for the middleweight title.

“So I don’t want to be talking about 205 [pounds] right now, it’s not the time but I could see me easily jumping up to 205 and competing with the best guys in the world.”

A few years ago before he lost the belt, Weidman had talked about the possibility of moving to light heavyweight for the challenge of facing Jon Jones, who is routinely hailed as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport if not the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.

Jones is just getting ready to make his return to action at UFC 232 when he will attempt to win back the light heavyweight title he never lost in the cage when he takes on Alexander Gustafsson on Dec. 29.

Once again, Weidman knows any potential fight against Jones would be way down the road but it’s still a dream matchup not to mention a huge accolade that he could add to his resume if they ever had the chance to face each other.

“That’s definitely in the back of my mind, that fight,” Weidman said about fighting Jones. “We’ll see. I’ve got to get back the middleweight championship first before I start talking but we’ll see. Let me get that middleweight belt first.”