Chris Weidman has spoken out for the first time following the brutal injury he received at UFC 261.
Weidman took on Uriah Hall in a much-anticipated matchup on the main card of the most recent UFC PPV event. However, the fight did not go down as planned for anyone. The first strike thrown, a low kick by Weidman, was checked by Hall. This shattered the calf of Weidman, who collapsed to the floor in agony.
He was promptly stretchered out, with Dana White stating that Weidman would receive surgery the following morning. Weidman has since received said surgery and is on the mend. He posted a video on Instagram, telling his friends and followers that he is ok, and offering thanks to those who wished him well. He stated the following:
“Trying to find the blessing in disguise and silver lining. Honestly, as soon as it happened and I hit the floor, seeing what happened to my leg and the pain started hitting me, I was just trying to put my mind on something positive and coming out of this. I’m hopeful that’s the thing that’s gonna come out of it that’s good. This is not fun. I can’t believe what happened.”
Whilst it is still unknown if Weidman will ever return to the octagon, he did reveal when he will be able to begin training again. He also revealed the actual damage he received.
“It’s pretty brutal, but I’m gonna get through this. I think it’s gonna be eight weeks until I could walk without crutches and stuff and drive and all that. And then as far as actual training, I don’t know. They said between six and 12 months I’ll be good to go. …
Surgery was successful. They put a titanium rod through the tibia. So they go through the knee, and they take the rod and they drill it through the tibia to make it straight and hard. My fibula was broken, as well, but I guess when they put the tibia back together and my leg was straight, the fibula kind of matched back up to where it was broken, and they feel that could heal on it’s own as long as I’m not putting weight on it and stuff.”
The brutal injury is bizarrely reminiscent of a win Weidman picked up over Anderson Silva, back in 2013. Silva did reach out to Weidman with a classy Instagram post.
On behalf of the MiddleEasy team, I’d also like to wish Chris Weidman a speedy recovery.
