Chris Weidman’s announcement that he has retired from the UFC was relatively low-key for a former champion. After competing 20 times in the Octagon, including three consecutive middleweight title defenses after he brought the legendary reign of Anderson Silva to an end, “The All-American” stated that he would no longer be fighting for the promotion during the weigh-in show ahead of UFC 311 earlier this month.
Weidman debuted for the UFC back in 2011 and whilst his recent run has lead to people calling for him to retire, including Dana White himself, many would have expected this to come in his loss to Eryk Anders at UFC 310 in December. Rather than getting some time on the mic at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to say goodbye to the fans, a social media post was the final parting moment before the 40-year old was announced to be fighting for the GFL during the promotion’s draft last Friday.
Weidman appeared on The Ariel Helwani show on January 28 to talk about his UFC departure and decision to sign with the GFL. He explained how he wanted to have a big send off in the cage but he didn’t want it to be on the prelims of the card which is where his rescheduled bout with Anders ended up taking place.
“I kind of was thinking I would announce that I’m retiring and put down my gloves and it would be pretty cool. But honestly, the UFC, they’re like, ‘Chris, we’re going to put you on the prelims again. We can’t put you on main cards’. It kind of sucks to see. A champion like that being put on the prelims all the time. Like, what am I doing?”
Despite having some regrets about the way that his UFC career came to an end, Weidman also stated that he understands why the main card slots would be offered to other fighters.
“All these up-and-comers, guys who were in my position like I was years and years ago coming up, they gotta make new stars out of these guys. And these former champions like myself that are not doing great, losing fights…you go from riches to rags basically inside the UFC and it’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s just business.”
