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By James Brizuela
Contributing Writer
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UFC 309 was chock full of great fights, but one of the most anticipated on the card was a middleweight showdown between former champion Chris Weidman and rising contender Eryk Anders. The fight was called off the day of the card, as Anders fell ill.
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Following the cancelation, Anders revealed that he was suffering from food poisoning, which struck him on Friday. He revealed in a social media post that there was "no way" he would have been able to compete.
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Now, the UFC has made quick work of ensuring that both fighters still face off against one another.
The UFC announced that Weidman vs Anders has been rescheduled to UFC 310 on Dec. 7. However, so that both fighters will not have to endure a weight cut in a matter of two weeks, they will fight at a catchweight of 195 pounds.
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Weidman and Anders will be allowed to weigh in at 195 pounds instead of the usual middleweight limit of 185 pounds. This should make for an interesting bout considering both will be heavier during the actual weigh-in and the weight gain that also follows if both have any sizeable amount of weight to cut.
Weidman is coming off a huge unanimous decision win against Bruno Silva in March at UFC Fight Night: Blanchfield vs. Fiorot. This snapped his two-fight losing streak, which dates back to 2021 when Wediman was knocked out by Uriah Hall at UFC 261: Usman vs. Masvidal 2 in April 2021.
Weidman took over two years off, returning to the octagon to face Brad Tavares at UFC 292: Sterling vs. O'Malley in Aug. 2023. Despite losing by a unanimous decision, Weidman looked far better.
For Anders, he is 2-1 in his last three bouts. Dating back to Dec. 2022, Anders defeated Kyle Daukaus by KO/TKO in the first round at UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Holland. Anders would return to fight Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC 289: Nunes vs. Aldana, but would lose by unanimous decision.
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Following his loss, Anders faced off against Jamie Pickett at UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev. Anders walked away with the unanimous decision victory, leading to his showdown with Weidman. Unfortunately, his becoming ill on Friday before UFC 309, forced him out of the bout.
Now, both Weidman and Anders will get a fast turnaround and have been added to the UFC 310 card. The card already contains solid matchups like Bryce Mitchell vs Kron Gracie, Ciryl Gane vs Alexander Volkov, and Alexandre Pantoja vs Kai Asakura for the flyweight title.
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