Chris Weidman’s Controversial Win at UFC Atlantic City
Chris Weidman’s return to the octagon at UFC Atlantic City was met with controversy as he earned a technical decision win over Bruno Silva amid an eye poke controversy. Weidman, a former middleweight champion, was looking to get back on track after a devastating broken leg nearly ended his MMA career three years ago.
The fight ended in the third round when Silva dropped to the canvas and Weidman unleashed a barrage of punches for the stoppage. However, replays showed that it was actually a pair of eye pokes that caused Silva to fall to the ground. Referee Gary Copeland did not see the fouls until it was too late.
The officials reviewing the footage decided to use the judges’ scorecards at the time of the stoppage to determine the winner, which was Weidman with all three judges giving him the fight 30-27. Weidman admitted that he wished things had played out differently, but also acknowledged that Silva’s reaction to the eye pokes did not help his case.
“I’ll never question a guy if he says he gets poked in the eye, but you can’t just drop every time you feel like something is touching your eyeball,” Weidman said at the post-fight press conference. “He poked me in the eye bad one time and I stood there, took it. Unless the ref’s going to say something, I don’t drop. I come from a wrestling background. It’s a similar thing. You can’t look to the ref, they’re not going to help you. Sometimes it’s going to go against you. You’ve got to be always ready. Ready to defend yourself at all times. He dropped again. I don’t know.
“Was he looking for a way out? I don’t know, but you can’t just turn your back and fall to the ground every time your eyeball feels poked.”
Weidman, who had a lot riding on this fight after a disappointing loss in his last bout, regrets the way things played out and wishes there wasn’t a dark cloud hanging over his win. However, he knows he did not intentionally foul Silva and will not let the result ruin his celebration.
“Did I want to poke him in the eye? No, I’m unhappy that I poked him in the eye,” Weidman said. “But when you’re fighting with these small gloves, [eye pokes] kind of just happen.
“If I had what it takes to think about getting my finger in his eyeball, why would I even do that? I’d be able to put my fist right on his chin every time I wanted. It’s harder than you think to be like, ‘I’m going to eye poke this guy.’ It’s just unintentional crap that happens when you have small gloves on and you’ve got fingers extended in gloves. It’s unfortunate. Obviously, I’d rather a TKO, but I get it. I won all three rounds so I’ll take it.”
Weidman’s Future in MMA
Despite the controversial win, Weidman feels rejuvenated in the octagon, especially with his leg feeling better after struggling in his previous matchup against Brad Tavares. He admits that if the fight had ended differently, he may have considered retirement, but that’s not the case now.
“I’m 39 years old,” Weidman said. “My leg is just getting back to where it’s not painful. I threw leg kicks today, I threw head kicks. I couldn’t even throw my leg last time. Also, the last time I fought, I couldn’t circle to my right, I couldn’t load my right leg.
“I considered [retirement] plenty of times, and I think if I would have lost tonight, if I would have not got my hand raised, it could have been the last time. I had that in my mind. If I was in there and I was like, ‘I just don’t have it anymore,’ I may have put the gloves down. But it didn’t happen. I got the win so here I am.”
With a win under his belt, Weidman is looking forward to more fights in the future and is excited for whatever comes next.
“I still think I have a lot of potential,” Weidman said. “I’ve had a lot of adversity. I still think I have it. Until I think I don’t have it anymore, I’m here. I love it. This is fun. I still got my looks. So until one of those start going, I’m here. This is too much fun. I was meant to do this.”
