UFC's Chris Weidman Lost 12 Pounds During COVID Battle, 'Sucked Pretty Bad'

UFC star Chris Weidman says he lost 12 pounds during his brush with COVID-19 --  mostly because he felt like complete dog crap and could barely eat.

But now, the 36-year-old insists he's out of the danger zone ... and will be ready to fight again in April.

The former middleweight champ initially tested positive last week -- forcing the UFC to pull him from the UFC 258 card on Feb. 13, when he was scheduled to take on #8 ranked Uriah Hall.

That fight has been pushed to April -- and Weidman says it's for the best, because COVID wrecked his body.

"The first couple of days definitely sucked pretty bad," Weidman told Submission Radio.

"For about 3 days I had a fever, body aches, bad headache, and it just kind of sucked. And, then after that, I just kind of felt tired."

Weidman says he suffered from bad headaches and was ultimately forced to take about 2 solid weeks off from the gym

"I also lost 12 pounds," Weidman says ... "I was eating soups and stuff. My appetite wasn’t that great and I ended up losing 12 pounds throughout the process. Which, I was like, wow, my weight cut is not gonna be as bad, I really got my weight low."

The good news, Weidman says he feels fully recovered now and ready to resume his fighting career.

"I feel good and I don’t feel like I have lingering effects because I really rested and made sure to do the right things."