Atlantic City – Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman believes he has plenty of fight left in the tank, and he’ll get a chance to show it against Bruno Silva at UFC Atlantic City on Saturday night.
Retirement was absolutely on the table according to Weidman following yet another injury after his last fight. Weidman took a loss to Brad Tavares at UFC 292 last August.
“I was open to retiring, not because I tore my ACL or MCL, just because I went out there, I accomplished a lot by coming back after that catastrophic injury, and I was like you know what maybe I’m good,” Weidman told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.
“In the time between that fight and this fight I was kind of like alright with maybe being done, and then I got a call for Atlantic City.”
It might not be New York, but the region is still very pro-Weidman. The thought of having at least one more fight, and possibly retiring in the octagon in Atlantic City, was too much for Weidman to pass up.
“The first thought was honestly that would be a cool place to put down my gloves. That’s where I started my career. This is kind of like my old stomping grounds before MMA was where it’s at today MMA wasn’t legal in New York,” Weidman said.
“That’s where I started my career. It would be cool to end it there.”
Fight camp this time around showed Weidman that maybe his thoughts of retirement were actually premature.
“As the fight camp began, and I started taking this all-natural supplement, it’s been really life-changing for me. I wasn’t able to circle to my right before that last fight because the pain in my leg. Now I’m completely fine I can load my knee without having pain,” he said.
“As the camp went on I really think that skill-set wise still, and I think better than ever, if you take on skill at a time I don’t think there’s anybody in the UFC in any division that has the skills and stand up, the wrestling and the jiu jitsu like I have.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Chris Weidman above. He takes on Bruno Silva at UFC Atlantic City on Saturday night.
