Chris Weidman remains committed to his fighting career. The former UFC middleweight champion received affirmation on Saturday, signaling a postponement of retirement for the time being.
Weidman (16-7 MMA, 12-7 UFC) secured a unanimous decision victory over Bruno Silva (23-11 MMA, 4-5 UFC) in the main card bout of UFC on ESPN 54, held at Boardwalk Hall.
For Weidman, the outcome and his performance provided reassurance that he still has more to offer in MMA, even as he approaches 40 years old.
“I still think I have a lot of potential, and I’ve had a lot of adversity and I still think I have it,” Weidman told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC on ESPN 54 post-fight press conference.
“So, until I don’t think I have it anymore, I’m here. This is fun. I still have my brains. I still got my looks. Until one of those starts going, I’m here, man. This is too much fun, and I think I was meant to do this. I’ve been doing this for a really long time.”
At 39, Weidman contemplates that a loss to Silva could have marked the conclusion of his fighting journey. Yet, with victory in his grasp, breaking a two-fight losing streak, he believes he still has much to offer.
“I’ve considered it plenty of times,” Weidman said when asked about retirement. “I think if I would’ve lost tonight, if I would’ve not gotten my hand raised, it could’ve been the last time. I had that in my mind. If I was in there and I was just, ‘I don’t have it anymore,’ I may have out the gloves down, but it didn’t happen, and I got the win, so here I am.”
Despite Weidman’s strong performance in his comeback fight, the outcome stirred controversy.Initially awarded a TKO victory, it was later revised to a unanimous decision.
In the third round, Weidman inadvertently eye-poked Silva, resulting in Silva going down. Weidman proceeded with additional strikes, prompting the fight’s conclusion.
However, due to the accidental eye poke, the bout wasn’t classified as a stoppage but was instead assessed until the incident occurred.
“I’ll never question a guy if he’s saying he got poked in the eye, but you can’t just drop every time you feel something is touching your eyeball,” Weidman said.
“He poked me in the eye one time and I stood there and took it. Unless the ref is going to say something, I don’t drop. I come from a wrestling background, and it’s a similar thing, you can’t look for the referee to help you.
“Sometimes they’re going to be against you, and you always have to be ready to defend yourself at all times. He dropped again. I don’t know if he was looking for a way out, but you can’t just turn your back and fall to the ground every time your eye feels poked.”
