UFC legend who beat Anderson Silva twice urged to retire after brutal UFC 310 defeat
Calls for Chris Weidman to retire have emerged following his shock defeat at UFC 310. Weidman was upset by Eryk Anders in his UFC prelims bout, much to the surprise of thousands of MMA fans. Weidman is a former UFC championGETTY The 40-year-old is a former UFC middleweight champion, having defeated Anderson Silva twice in 2013 – first to win the belt and then to defend it. He successfully defended the 185-pound strap two more times before dropping it to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194, the same card where Conor McGregor famously knocked out Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds – the quickest KO in UFC title fight history. ‘The All-American’ was coming off a victory in his last bout in May, but looked every bit his age during the latter stages of his defeat to Anders. Both men traded leather in the opening stages, with Weidman even dropping his American counterpart with a beautiful left hand in the first round. But the momentum didn’t last long, as Weidman eventually gassed out in round two, allowing Anders to overwhelm him on the ground with vicious ground-and-pound to secure the stoppage. There was slight controversy surrounding the finish, as Anders hammerfisted his way to a second-round stoppage, leaving some MMA fans feeling the referee may have intervened too quickly. However, the majority agreed that Weidman was all but finished when he was on the receiving end of Anders’ brutal onslaught and merely in “survival mode” by that point. MMA journalist Ben Davis reacted to the fight on X, saying: “Chris Weidman getting dominated by Eryk Anders is wild.” Another journalist, Damon Martin, added: “Eryk Anders batters Chris Weidman with ground and pound for the second round finish.” Fans also shared their thoughts on the bout. One said: “I’m completely OK with that stoppage. Weidman was just in survival mode at that point.” View Tweet: https://t.co/7PLZ2jcqeW Another added that time was up for the American MMA legend: “Love You Chris Weidman, but retire bro.” While a third was a bit more brutal with his response: “Chris Weidman needs to retire. That was absolutely atrocious.” A fourth added: “Chris Weidman should retire. He hasn’t ever been a particular fast fighter but he looked like he was in slow motion tonight.” Weidman was scheduled to face Anders at UFC 309 – when Jon Jones retained his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic – but the fight was cancelled just hours before the bout, due to the latter suffering a medical emergency. The New York native is known for one of the worst injuries in UFC history, after he broke his leg just 17 seconds into his 2021 bout with Uriah Hall at UFC 261. His leg kick silenced the sold-out arena in Jacksonville, Florida, and it was confirmed after the bout that ‘The All-American’ had suffered a compound fracture to his tibia and fibula, with the latter puncturing the skin through his calf. Since then, he’s won just one of his three UFC contests, so it’s easy to see why some fans think he should move on from fighting professionally. Weidman suffered a horrendous leg break in 2021Reuters
Calls for Chris Weidman to retire have emerged following his shock defeat at UFC 310.
Weidman was upset by Eryk Anders in his UFC prelims bout, much to the surprise of thousands of MMA fans.
The 40-year-old is a former UFC middleweight champion, having defeated Anderson Silva twice in 2013 – first to win the belt and then to defend it.
He successfully defended the 185-pound strap two more times before dropping it to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194, the same card where Conor McGregor famously knocked out Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds – the quickest KO in UFC title fight history.
‘The All-American’ was coming off a victory in his last bout in May, but looked every bit his age during the latter stages of his defeat to Anders.
Both men traded leather in the opening stages, with Weidman even dropping his American counterpart with a beautiful left hand in the first round.
But the momentum didn’t last long, as Weidman eventually gassed out in round two, allowing Anders to overwhelm him on the ground with vicious ground-and-pound to secure the stoppage.
There was slight controversy surrounding the finish, as Anders hammerfisted his way to a second-round stoppage, leaving some MMA fans feeling the referee may have intervened too quickly.
However, the majority agreed that Weidman was all but finished when he was on the receiving end of Anders’ brutal onslaught and merely in “survival mode” by that point.
MMA journalist Ben Davis reacted to the fight on X, saying: “Chris Weidman getting dominated by Eryk Anders is wild.”
Another journalist, Damon Martin, added: “Eryk Anders batters Chris Weidman with ground and pound for the second round finish.”
Fans also shared their thoughts on the bout. One said: “I’m completely OK with that stoppage. Weidman was just in survival mode at that point.”
Another added that time was up for the American MMA legend: “Love You Chris Weidman, but retire bro.”
While a third was a bit more brutal with his response: “Chris Weidman needs to retire. That was absolutely atrocious.”
A fourth added: “Chris Weidman should retire. He hasn’t ever been a particular fast fighter but he looked like he was in slow motion tonight.”
Weidman was scheduled to face Anders at UFC 309 – when Jon Jones retained his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic – but the fight was cancelled just hours before the bout, due to the latter suffering a medical emergency.
The New York native is known for one of the worst injuries in UFC history, after he broke his leg just 17 seconds into his 2021 bout with Uriah Hall at UFC 261.
His leg kick silenced the sold-out arena in Jacksonville, Florida, and it was confirmed after the bout that ‘The All-American’ had suffered a compound fracture to his tibia and fibula, with the latter puncturing the skin through his calf.
Since then, he’s won just one of his three UFC contests, so it’s easy to see why some fans think he should move on from fighting professionally.
