A tantalizing rematch of former champions Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman is on deck for UFC 230 this November.
A battle of former UFC middleweight champions appears set for UFC 230 in New York. According to a report by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, the UFC has booked Luke Rockhold into a rematch with Chris Weidman for the event. The PPV card takes place in November at Madison Square Garden.
Weidman (14–3) and Rockhold (16–4) first met in 2015, when Weidman was still champion. At the time, he was riding a high of dethroning Anderson Silva, then defending the 185lb title against Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort. Rockhold, however, spoiled his run, finishing the ‘All-American’ at UFC 194.
Rockhold, a former Strikeforce champ, would not have much time to revel in the victory. His own reign was cut short when he was knocked out by short-notice replacement Michael Bisping at UFC 199.
Since then, both fighters have struggled to make it to the cage with any regularity. Weidman has fought three times since the loss to Rockhold, losing twice more before getting back in the win column against Kelvin Gastelum last July. Gastelum, however, has leap-frogged him into a title shot against Robert Whittaker. Rockhold, for his part, has also fought just three times since defeating Weidman. That includes the Bisping loss, a win over David Branch, and his most recent outing, where Yoel Romero finished him at UFC 221.
Interestingly, there had been plans to have Rockhold move up in weight to face Alexander Gustafsson, but those plans appear to be on hold.
UFC 230 takes place November 3 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY.
