Gegard Mousasi isn’t convinced that Chris Weidman wanted to continuing fighting at UFC 210.
Last night’s (April 8) co-main event inside the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY was marred by controversy. In the second round, Mousasi hit Weidman in the head with a knee to the head. Referee Dan Miragliotta initially deemed it as an illegal knee because he thought both of Weidman’s hands were on the canvas.
After seeing a replay, John McCarthy told Miragliotta that the knees were actually legal as Weidman’s hands were lifted up just before the knee landed. Replays aren’t used in the state of New York, but it was used on the fly. The fight was then called off and Mousasi was awarded the TKO win.
When the fight was settled, Weidman expressed frustration and revealed he would be appealing the loss. At the post-fight press conference, Mousasi said he was happy to get a win and felt Weidman was done at the time the fight was called (via MMAFighting.com):
“At the end of the day, I’m fighting. I have a lot of respect for Weidman. I don’t want to badmouth him. But if you want to play smart and take advantage of the rules, that’s not my fault. I’m fighting. If you want to put your hands down so I cannot knee you — you’re fighting, don’t try to take advantage of the rules. I’m fighting, and at the end of the day, it was legal. That’s what everyone says now, it was legal. I don’t make the rules. It was legal and I felt he didn’t want to continue. I think everyone saw that. He didn’t want to continue. How is that my fault? I don’t give a f*ck, I won. I like the guy, he’s a tough opponent, but at the end of the day, he didn’t want to fight. I felt he was getting tired.”
