Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman is certain he is not done yet despite Dana White’s request for him to retire following his post-UFC 292 injury. “The All-American” insists that his latest injury is not as serious as many thought it was.
Chris would know when he’s Done
Speaking to MMA on SiriusXM, Weidman said he couldn’t blame White for making such comments as he knows he was told that he tore multiple ligaments in his leg. And knowing he has had a bad history with injuries, “The All-American” understood why the UFC boss jumped into that conclusion.
However, Weidman insisted that nothing has been torn in his leg and what he needed was just a four-week recovery. Ultimately, the former champ pointed out that he would know when it’s time to go.
“Dana White went viral, ‘Chris Weidman please, please retire.’ So I try to put myself in other people’s shoes, I spoke to Dana White that night so let’s start with his comments. I see his comments you know, to see your boss say that about you kinda sucks. That’s not something you ever want to hear your boss say but if I put myself in his shoes, he’s told by the doctor, after I’ve been out for 2 and a half years with super serious, probably the worst injury in the history of the UFC, I come back from that and then he finds out before the presser that I tore my ACL and my LCL, that’s another year right there. So when he’s asked what do you think is wrong, and next for Chris? If he tore his ACL and LCL I mean I’d probably say yeah he should retire too,” Weidman explained.
“If I tore my if I tore my ACL, that might be it, that might be it for me… that’s probably it for me but I only have a four-week recovery now and so it’s not like I fought bad. I still love this. I’m not doing this just for the money. Do I like getting the money from it? Yes, but I don’t need it. I have so much, I got options for myself. I’ll be good for the rest of my life but I love what I do. I have more to offer the sport, I still think I could bring a lot to the table and bring some great fights so when I’m done, I’ll know and we’ll be done but it’s not yet,” he continued.
"If I tore my ACL and my LCL, that might be it."@chrisweidman responds to Dana White's #UFC292 presser comments about him retiring.
Hear ALL of Chris' thoughts on his UFC return 🚨https://t.co/l9iyqHz5Pj pic.twitter.com/rGwM0np8GA
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) August 29, 2023
It was just a Fracture
To finally address the issue, Weidman further revealed that he had already gotten the results and as it turns out, it was just a fracture.
“I got some MRIs, I got MRI done on my tibia and fibula on both legs, got MRI’s on both my knees, X-rays and I’ve been waiting for results and I got the results back. There was a lot of speculation through the UFC, the doctor from UFC told Dana White right away that I tore my ACL and LCL, I was always like I don’t know where they get that from because right after the fight they didn’t move my leg around they didn’t like test anything there, my legs were super swollen so we got ice on and that was it. So, I don’t know where they were getting that from but I didn’t think my ligaments were torn. And guess what? who was right? I was right!,” Weidman said.
"I didn't think my ligaments were torn, and guess what? Who was right?"@chrisweidman reveals his post-#UFC292 MRI results & recovery timeline.
Won't Back Down EXCLUSIVE out now! ⬇️https://t.co/l9iyqHzDER pic.twitter.com/TmkFPc2Or1
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) August 28, 2023
“There was no ligament tears at all,” he continued. “So ACL, LCL, MCL, PCL all those L’s that you do not want to tear because that’s like six months to a year of recovery, and God knows I cannot handle another injury like that where I’m out for that long so that kept me together and the ligaments are good.”
“What did happen to me though, is I have a fracture on my left leg so I guess he [Brad Tavares] broke my leg with one of those leg kicks in the first second round,” he added. “I’m gonna say I think it was the beginning of the second round when I stumbled, he hit me with a really good one, the pain was electrifying… I’m pretty sure that’s when my light broke fractured. I haven’t even seen the actual fracture itself on a scan but I’m envisioning it’s like a like a small fracture of some sort. It’s on the tibula head so it’s like right below my knee, is where it broke, the upper tibia bone is what’s fractured… recovery-wise, it’s not bad at all, four weeks! Four-week recovery, that’s it.”
Despite the good news, Weidman still needs to bounce back even stronger as his UFC 292 loss to Brad Tavares is his second in a row.
