“The All-American” is back …
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion Chris Weidman will take on former Bellator prospect turned grappling bad boy Pat Downey at Fury Pro Grappling 13 on Fri. May 23, 2025, inside the Hard Rock in Atlantic City, NJ.
The upcoming grappling match-up was announced during the CFFC 141 broadcast last night on UFC Fight Pass.
Weidman hasn’t competed in professional grappling since his unanimous decision loss to Owen Livesey at Polaris 23 in 2023, two years after horrifically breaking his leg.
The former UFC Middleweight champion retired from the promotion earlier this year, after suffering a brutal beating at the hands of Eryk Anders at UFC 310. Eight days later, he unretired from MMA and signed with Global Fighting League (GFL).
He was scheduled to rematch Luke Rockhold; however, GFL canceled its first two events, leaving the future of the fight promotion uncertain.
Downey, a former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler, has transitioned back to full-time grappling after going 1-1 in MMA. He defeated Rockhold at the epic CJ1 grappling event last year, but lost to Adam Bradley in the next round.
Late last year, he swept the IBJJF No-Gi Worlds, but his medal was revoked after a brawl ensued, an occurrence not unfamiliar to him. Two weeks later, he defeated UFC fighter Andre Petroski at Fury Pro Grappling 12.
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This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
