LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – AUGUST 08: (L-R) Chris Weidman punches Omari Akhmedov of Russia of their middleweight struggle throughout the UFC Struggle Night time occasion at UFC APEX on August 08, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Picture by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
“The All-American” is looking it a profession, as Chris Weidman introduced his retirement on Friday. Kind of.
The previous UFC middleweight champion, coming off a loss to Eryk Anders at UFC 310 final month, introduced on the UFC 311 weigh-in present that he was finished combating, not less than for the UFC.
“Since I decided to get into this sport, since 2009, the goal was to be a UFC fighter. Then immediately, the goal was to be a UFC champion,” Weidman said throughout Friday morning’s present. “Fourteen years later, I’m here to tell you that I’m hanging up the gloves in the UFC. I no longer will be fighting in the organization that changed my life in so many ways.”
Observe the verbiage. Weidman, who shocked the world by knockout out Anderson Silva in 2013 to say the UFC’s 185lb title, is particularly finished with the UFC. He did, nonetheless, depart the door open to competing elsewhere.
“You’ve got to move on, so I’m opening up a new chapter in my life, and I’m excited about the future,” he later said. “I’m leaving the door open for big opportunities out there. But we’re moving on to see my life develop in different ways.”
A kind of doorways may be the GFL. Coach Ray Longo, a detailed confidant of Weidman, was lately introduced as teaching the New York crew of the GFL. Coincidentally, no supervisor was introduced for that crew, which looks like a spot Weidman might slip into, holding him concerned within the sport with out truly combating.
Chris Weidman finishes his UFC profession with wins over Silva, Vitor Belfort, Kelvin Gastelum, Demian Maia and others.
