‘Elephant in the room’ – Former champion gives reason why he signed with rival MMA promotion eight days after UFC retirement
Chris Weidman signed with the Global Fight League (GFL) just eight days after announcing he was leaving the UFC. Now, the 40-year-old from New York has revealed the main driving force behind the decision that made him stick with his beloved MMA. Weidman [left] squared off with Eryk Anders in his last boutGETTY But was stopped at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas after two rounds Weidman is a former UFC middleweight champion, having won the belt from MMA legend Anderson Silva in 2013. However, calls for ‘The All-American’ to retire emerged following his last octagon appearance against Eryk Anders at UFC 310 in December, when he was brutally finished in the second round. Weidman was coming off a victory to Bruno Silva in May, but looked every bit his age during the later stages of his defeat to Anders. Just over one month after the defeat, Weidman appeared at UFC 311’s weigh-in show, saying he would ‘no longer’ be fighting for the promotion, which several MMA fans thought was a retirement announcement. But he didn’t rule out fighting elsewhere, claiming that he was ‘opening a new chapter’ in his life, and evidently that is the case following GFL’s announcement. “The elephant in the room is I just retired from the UFC,” Weidman said during the GFL broadcast. “A lot of people thought I was done fighting. I didn’t know. I thought maybe I am done fighting. I was kind of open to other opportunities outside of the UFC, but it had to be good. “This is a league where there’s a lot of guys that I have a history with. You’ve got Luke Rockhold, you’ve got Gegard Mousasi, you’ve got Uriah Hall. “Rockhold was my first loss ever. That was a tough pill for me to swallow. We were supposed to rematch a bunch of times in UFC, but it never happened. “So that would be a fight I’d love to have. Uriah Hall broke my damn leg in my last fight. He was a gentleman about it, but we had fought twice. Weidman won just three of his last 10 fight in Dana White’s promotion “…It’s older dudes that I have a lot of history with. I love to compete and we make a whole lot of money. It’s not something I really feel like I can say no to. It’s really an exciting time for me.” The former UFC middleweight champion was selected as Team New York’s second pick in the GFL draft. GFL is MMA’s newest promotion and will launch in April 2025 with a team-based concept after securing funding from tech investors in Silicon Valley. The brand-new promotion will feature six teams across four continents, with venues booked in ten cities worldwide. Each team will consist of 20 fighters across ten weight classes, a unique feature of the GFL, as all bouts will reportedly operate under a catchweight system. Weidman dropped the UFC middleweight title to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194 in 2015 on the same card as Conor McGregor‘s famous knockout win over Jose Aldo. Chris Weidman's five UFC title bouts Won UFC middleweight title against Anderson Silva at UFC 162 on July 6, 2013, ending the latter’s 17-fight unbeaten streak Defended belt in rematch with Silva five months later at UFC 168 Beat Lyoto Machida in second title defence at UFC 175 on July 5, 2014 via unanimous decision, winning Fight of the Night Stopped Vitor Belfort in the first round at UFC 187 on May 23, 2015 in third title defence Lost UFC middleweight title to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194 on December 12, 2015 – the same card Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo Weidman suffered a horrendous leg break four years ago against HallReuters His fight against Uriah Hall at UFC 261 in 2021 is also renowned as having witnessed one of the most brutal injuries of all time. Weidman silenced the sold-out arena in Florida after breaking his leg just 17 seconds into the bout. It was confirmed after the fight that he had suffered a compound fracture to his tibia and fibula. GFL have signed former UFC champion Tyron Woodley to their roster, as well as other ex-UFC stars such as Fabricio Werdum, Anthony Pettis, Luke Rockhold and Alexander Gustafsson. The promotion has received a mixed response from combat sports fans around the world. MMA journalist Ariel Helwani said on Monday that the structure of it ‘doesn’t work’, saying it ‘runs counter to what fight sports should be’.
Chris Weidman signed with the Global Fight League (GFL) just eight days after announcing he was leaving the UFC.
Now, the 40-year-old from New York has revealed the main driving force behind the decision that made him stick with his beloved MMA.
Weidman is a former UFC middleweight champion, having won the belt from MMA legend Anderson Silva in 2013.
However, calls for ‘The All-American’ to retire emerged following his last octagon appearance against Eryk Anders at UFC 310 in December, when he was brutally finished in the second round.
Weidman was coming off a victory to Bruno Silva in May, but looked every bit his age during the later stages of his defeat to Anders.
Just over one month after the defeat, Weidman appeared at UFC 311’s weigh-in show, saying he would ‘no longer’ be fighting for the promotion, which several MMA fans thought was a retirement announcement.
But he didn’t rule out fighting elsewhere, claiming that he was ‘opening a new chapter’ in his life, and evidently that is the case following GFL’s announcement.
“The elephant in the room is I just retired from the UFC,” Weidman said during the GFL broadcast.
“A lot of people thought I was done fighting. I didn’t know. I thought maybe I am done fighting. I was kind of open to other opportunities outside of the UFC, but it had to be good.
“This is a league where there’s a lot of guys that I have a history with. You’ve got Luke Rockhold, you’ve got Gegard Mousasi, you’ve got Uriah Hall.
“Rockhold was my first loss ever. That was a tough pill for me to swallow. We were supposed to rematch a bunch of times in UFC, but it never happened.
“So that would be a fight I’d love to have. Uriah Hall broke my damn leg in my last fight. He was a gentleman about it, but we had fought twice.
“…It’s older dudes that I have a lot of history with. I love to compete and we make a whole lot of money. It’s not something I really feel like I can say no to. It’s really an exciting time for me.”
The former UFC middleweight champion was selected as Team New York’s second pick in the GFL draft.
GFL is MMA’s newest promotion and will launch in April 2025 with a team-based concept after securing funding from tech investors in Silicon Valley.
The brand-new promotion will feature six teams across four continents, with venues booked in ten cities worldwide.
Each team will consist of 20 fighters across ten weight classes, a unique feature of the GFL, as all bouts will reportedly operate under a catchweight system.
Weidman dropped the UFC middleweight title to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194 in 2015 on the same card as Conor McGregor‘s famous knockout win over Jose Aldo.
Chris Weidman's five UFC title bouts
- Won UFC middleweight title against Anderson Silva at UFC 162 on July 6, 2013, ending the latter’s 17-fight unbeaten streak
- Defended belt in rematch with Silva five months later at UFC 168
- Beat Lyoto Machida in second title defence at UFC 175 on July 5, 2014 via unanimous decision, winning Fight of the Night
- Stopped Vitor Belfort in the first round at UFC 187 on May 23, 2015 in third title defence
- Lost UFC middleweight title to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194 on December 12, 2015 – the same card Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo
His fight against Uriah Hall at UFC 261 in 2021 is also renowned as having witnessed one of the most brutal injuries of all time.
Weidman silenced the sold-out arena in Florida after breaking his leg just 17 seconds into the bout.
It was confirmed after the fight that he had suffered a compound fracture to his tibia and fibula.
GFL have signed former UFC champion Tyron Woodley to their roster, as well as other ex-UFC stars such as Fabricio Werdum, Anthony Pettis, Luke Rockhold and Alexander Gustafsson.
The promotion has received a mixed response from combat sports fans around the world.
MMA journalist Ariel Helwani said on Monday that the structure of it ‘doesn’t work’, saying it ‘runs counter to what fight sports should be’.
