Hempstead, NY – Hofstra University alumnus and former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman will be fighting in one of the six main card matches this Saturday, November 12 when mixed martial arts (MMA) makes its New York State debut in UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden.

Weidman, the number two-ranked middleweight in the UFC, will face Yoel Romero, the fourth-ranked middleweight, in the UFC's first fight card, which features three title fights, in the Empire State. The Weidman-Romero fight will air on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass. The 12-card fight card will get underway with two early preliminaries beginning at 7 p.m. (ET) on UFC Fight Pass. Fox Sports 1 will televise four preliminaries beginning at 8 p.m. followed by the six-fight main card, which is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m.

Weidman (13-1-0, 9-1 UFC) returns to the octagon for the first time since December 12, 2015 when he lost his middleweight championship belt to Luke Rockhold in UFC 194. His return this Saturday was delayed due to a neck injury that required surgery.
 
Weidman, who grabbed the UFC middleweight title on July 6, 2013 with a second round knockout of Anderson Silva in UFC 162, defended his title for the first time on December 28, 2013 with a second round TKO by injury of Silva in UFC 168. He would win a unanimous decision over former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida in UFC 175 on July 5, 2014. His third defense of the title, a knockout victory, was against Vitor Belfort on May 23, 2015 in UFC187. That knockout earned him the performance of the night award.

The 32-year-old Weidman, who is nicknamed "The All-American", has a five-inch arm reach advantage over the 39-year-old Romero. Weidman has recorded six victories by knockout and three by submission in UFC.

Romero (11-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC), who is ranked fourth, has also not fought since UFC 194 when he defeated Ronaldo Souza by split decision. He has won nine of his 11 victories by knockout. Romero is currently on a seven-fight winning streak.

Weidman, a two-time All-American at Hofstra, was 51-21 in two seasons with the Pride, placed sixth in 2006 and third as a senior in 2007 at 197 pounds in the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. Weidman, who earned a bachelor's degree in psychology in 2007, was named to the Colonial Athletic Association's Silver Anniversary Wrestling Team in 2009, along with seven other Hofstra grapplers. In September, he was honored with the Hofstra Young Alumnus of the Year Award.

In the main event on the main card, the featherweight champion Conor McGregor (20-3) will face the lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez (28-4) for the lightweight title. In other main card fights, champion Tyron Woodley (16-3) will face second-ranked Stephen Thompson for the welterweight title; champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (12-0) faces second-ranked Karolina Kowalkiewicz (10-0) for the women's strawweight title; fifth-ranked Kelvin Gastelum (13-2) faces sixth-ranked Donald Cerrone (31-7) in a welterweight fight; number one challenger Miesha Tate (18-6) faces eigth-ranked Raquel Pennington (8-6) in a women's bantamweight fight; and Weidman and Romero in a middleweight battle.

In the prelims that will be aired on Fox Sports 1, second-ranked Frankie Edgar (19-5-1) faces seventh-ranked Jeremy Stephens (25-12) in a flyweight battle; second-ranked Khabib Nurmagomadov (23-0) battles sixth-ranked Michael Johnson (18-10) in a lightweight fight; 14^th-ranked Rafael Natal (21-7-1) squares off against unranked Tim Boetsch (19-10) in a middleweight encounter; and Vincente Luqua (10-5-1) meets Belal Muhammad (10-1).

In the early prelims to be aired on UFC Fight Pass, Jim Miller (27-8) meets Thiago Alves (26-10) and ninth-ranked Liz Carmouche (9-5) faces Katlyn (8-0) in a women's bantamweight battle.