The ultimate rematch is on: Weidman v. Rockhold II set for UFC 230

The grudge match featuring Long Island’s favorite son is making its way to Madison Square Garden. Chris Weidman will look for some revenge when he faces Luke Rockhold at UFC 230 on November 3. The fight was made official during the UFC 228 broadcast this past weekend.

This match is deeply personal. Weidman will finally get to face Rockhold for the first time since the latter beat Weidman for the Middleweight Title. The two were scheduled to face in a rematch but Weidman had to back out due to a cervical disc herniation.

8 weeks from today I get redemption in New York at Madison Square Garden pic.twitter.com/A9bzTq5rrm

— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) September 8, 2018

When first talked about, the match was considered the right move to make, and the only move for both fighters to take. Rockhold immediately lost the belt to Michael Bisping at UFC 199. After that, he rebounded against David Branch before getting KO’d by Yel Romero at UFC 221. While he was considering a move to another division, this fight could be his motivation to stay.

Weidman on the other hand has had a different journey. After losing to Rockhold, he would end up dropping his next two. Both Yoel Romero and Gegard Mousasi beat the Baldwin native, each loss worse than the next. His last fight was a redemption and homecoming fight. Weidman ended up beating contender Kelvin Gastelum at UFC on Fox 25 (back in July 2017), in front of his home fans inside the Nassau Coliseum. Needing surgery once again, the setback didn’t help his cause for any title shot.

With a stacked middleweight division, this fight may not have any title implications on the line, but pride definitely is. A vocal New York City crowd won’t be able to contain themselves once two of the best middleweights in the UFC face off one more time.