Chris Weidman is addressing the elephant within the room.
Earlier this month, the ‘All American’ introduced his retirement from combined martial arts throughout the UFC 311 weigh-in present. Weidman was given ample time to make the announcement, bringing an finish to a 13-year run contained in the Octagon that noticed him earn wins over Demian Maia, Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, and Kelvin Gastelum. Alongside the best way, Weidman captured the middleweight championship and efficiently defended it thrice.
Eight days later, Weidman is formally popping out of retirement.
Throughout Friday’s stay International Combat League draft, ‘All American’ was chosen by Staff New York because the seventh total choose and is anticipated to participate within the promotion’s inaugural common season when it kicks off in April.
Throughout the stay draft broadcast, Weidman supplied some perception into his resolution to chop his retirement quick one week after saying it.
“The elephant in the room is I just retired from UFC,” Weidman mentioned. “A lot of people thought I was done fighting,” defined Weidman. “I didn’t know. I assumed perhaps I’m finished combating. I used to be type of open to different alternatives exterior of the UFC, however it needed to be good. This can be a league with a number of guys I’ve a historical past with. You bought Luke Rockhold, you bought Gegard Mousasi, you bought Uriah Corridor.
“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. 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.”
Chris Weidman joined by 19 different fighters on Staff New York
Becoming a member of Weidman on Staff New York can be former UFC mild heavyweight contender Ovince Saint Preux, ‘Motown Phenom’ Kevin Lee, ex-bantamweight queen Holly Holm, BJJ specialist Dillon Danis, and former BKFC heavyweight champion Alan Belcher.
