Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC “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. > BREAKING NEWS!!! #CFFC141 > > Chris Weidman will compete at Fury Pro Grappling 13 on May 23! pic.twitter.com/hx9ZqiUU05 > > — UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) April 20, 2025 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 Late last year, he swept the IBJJF No-Gi Worlds, but his medal was revoked after a brawl ensued, an occurrence not unfamiliar to him.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. * * * **For the latest Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) and grappling-related news click****here****.**