By ESPN | Created at 2025-01-18 00:04:58 | Updated at 2025-01-18 03:07:15
3 hours ago
Andreas Hale, ESPNJan 17, 2025, 05:44 PM ET
More than a decade after producing one of the most shocking knockouts in MMA history, former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman announced his retirement on Friday during the UFC 311 weigh-in show.
"Since 2009, the goal was to be a UFC fighter," said Weidman. "Then, immediately the goal was to become a UFC world champion. Fourteen years later, I'm here and I'm here to tell you guys I'm hanging up the gloves in the UFC. I am no longer going to be fighting for the organization that changed my life in so many ways, and I'm just super appreciative to everybody who got me here."
The announcement came a month after losing to Eryk Anders at UFC 310, his second loss in three fights. He retires with an overall MMA record of 16-8.
Weidman, 40, was the 185-pound champ from 2013 to 2015, ascending to the top of the sport by ending the seven-year reign of Anderson Silva at UFC 162. Silva, one of the greatest in the history of MMA, had won 17 fights in a row and appeared untouchable until Weidman proved otherwise.
Weidman's second-round knockout came when he caught Silva with a left hook while the Brazilian was doing his trademark showboating. The surprise result scuttled the UFC's plans to stage what would have been a massive superfight between Silva and either Jon Jones, the light heavyweight champion at the time, or then-welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre.
At the moment of the knockout, Jones jumped to his feet from his cage-side seat, mouth agape in stunned silence. At the post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White said, "I told Jon Jones, I said, 'You lost a zillion dollars tonight. Congratulations!'"
The win over Silva made Weidman 10-0, and he successfully defended the belt three times, including in a rematch with Silva, which Weidman won by TKO after Silva broke his leg while attempting a kick.
"I don't think it's accidental when you try to check a kick and it works," Weidman said of the win. "Otherwise, if I didn't check the kick, I'd have a big bruise on my leg right now ... so you try to check kicks."
Losing the title to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194 started a difficult run for Weidman, who lost eight of the remaining 11 fights in his career. Weidman even suffered a broken leg of his own during a 2021 bout with Uriah Hall and missed the next two years.
Upon returning from injury in 2023, Weidman dropped a decision to Brad Tavares but bounced back with a technical decision win over Bruno Silva.
Weidman had his eyes set on a potential retirement fight at UFC 309 against Anders at Madison Square Garden, which would have been a homecoming for the former champion. He was born and raised in nearby Baldwin, New York, and lived in that Long Island community until moving to South Carolina during the COVID-19 pandemic. Weidman was a two-time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.
Anders was forced to withdraw due to food poisoning, and the fight was rescheduled for UFC 310 in Las Vegas in December. Weidman lost by technical knockout.
"It has been a ride," said Weidman of his career. "From being an undefeated world champion and being able to be one of the greatest of all time in Anderson Silva and then being able to defend my belt three times against some of the greatest legends of the sport. I've learned a lot about myself, dealing with adversity and injuries. I've had 30 surgeries, and I put my body through a lot. I'm just proud that the UFC gave me an outlet to be able to compete against some of the best guys in the world."
"I'm opening up a new chapter of my life, excited about the future, and I'm leaving the door open for opportunities, any big opportunities out there. But we're moving on to see my life developed in different ways."
