Chris Weidman became the new UFC middleweight champion after knocking...

Chris Weidman became the new UFC middleweight champion after knocking out Anderson Silva at UFC 162 in Las Vegas on July 6, 2013. Credit: Mario Gonzalez

As a young man who wanted to become a professional fighter, Chris Weidman once grabbed a random mouth guard off the floor of Ray Longo's gym in Garden City. stuck it in his mouth and entered the octagon. 

Several years later, the Baldwin-raised Weidman stomped around the cage and flung his mouthpiece somewhere into the MGM Grand Garden Arena as he became the UFC middleweight champion with a surprising knockout of Anderson Silva, then the king of the division and, arguably, the entire sport.

And on Friday, after 24 professional fights (and more surgeries stemming from those fights), the 40-year-old Weidman decided it was time to bring to an end his career in professional mixed martial arts. Weidman announced his retirement during the UFC 311 weigh-in show, a show he has co-hosted for a few years alongside Laura Sanko, Daniel Cormier and other UFC personalities.

“Since I decided to get into this sport, since 2009, the goal was to be a UFC fighter,” Weidman said. “Then immediately the goal was to be a UFC world champion. Fourteen years later, I’m here and I’m here to tell you guys I’m hanging up the gloves in the UFC. I’m no longer going to be fighting for the organization that changed my life in so many ways. I’m just super appreciative to everybody that got me here.”

Weidman got emotional as he thanked his family, coaches, training partners, fans and everyone who played a part in his career.

“It’s been a ride,” Weidman said. “From being an undefeated world champion and being able to beat one of the greatest of all time in Anderson Silva, and then being able to defend my belt three times against some of the greatest legends of the sport. Even from the amount I’ve learned about myself in dealing with adversity and injuries, I’ve had 30 surgeries. I put my body through a lot and to be able to overcome a lot of that was always tough."

Weidman entered the UFC on short notice, as so many other fighters do. He brought with him a 4-0 record on the regional scene, a decorated college wrestling resume that included four All-American honors (twice at Hofstra, twice at Nassau CC) and all the makings of a top prospect on the short track to a title. Weidman ran through his first five opponents, the last one being a vicious knockout by elbow to the head of Mark Munoz.

That put Weidman's name firmly in the discussion of challenging Silva for the title in 2013. Silva was on a 16-fight win streak in the UFC, including 10 straight middleweight title defenses. 

"I spoke to Anderson," Lorenzo Fertitta, UFC chief executive at the time, leaned in to quietly tell Weidman during a trip to New York's capitol building in Albany to lobby for the legalization of MMA in the state.

Weidman's eyes lit up.

"You got the fight," Fertitta continued. "July 4th weekend."

A hug ensued. Smiles, too. And, a few months later, a championship belt at UFC 162. 

"From the second I met him, I knew he was going to be a champion," his longtime trainer Longo told Newsday. "He brought an intensity and skill set that at that time, nobody could stop. When he was uninjured, he was an unstoppable force. He just had a had a beautiful career. It's good when you reach the pinnacle of your sport, which he did, and I think he should retire very happily."

Weidman was the second the of four UFC champions trained by Longo (Matt Serra in 2007, Weidman in 2013, Aljamain Sterling in 2021 and Merab Dvalishvili in 2024)

Weidman went on to defend the UFC middleweight title three consecutive times, the second-longest such streak at the time in the division. (Israel Adesanya later would surpass Weidman with five in a row.) Weidman beat Silva in the rematch via TKO at UFC 168 after Silva shattered his lower left leg when Weidman checked one of his kicks. (Ironically, years later, Weidman would suffer a similar injury during a fight against Uriah Hall.) He then won a five-round war by unanimous decision against Lyoto Machida at UFC 175, and then shut down Vitor Belfort with a first-round TKO at UFC 187.

"I love the Machida fight," Longo said. "He did it all. He pressed forward. His stand up was on point, his aggression was on point. His wrestling was on point. It was a back and forth war. I think it tested who he was."

Weidman lost the title to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194 on Dec. 12, 2015. After starting his career 13-0, Weidman ended his career on a 3-8 run. Injuries played a part in that, as a neck injury prevented him from reaching the scheduled rematch with Rockhold.

"People don't know how often he fought at not 100%," Longo said. "They just don't know. But that was the beauty of Weidman, I thought. He always found a way to pull through."

The most notable — and devastating — injury Weidman suffered came on April 24, 2021, in Jacksonville, Florida. Just 17 seconds into his bout against Hall (a rematch from their Ring of Combat days when Weidman knocked him out in 2010), Weidman threw a calf kick and shattered his lower right leg. As soon as that leg returned to the canvas, it crumpled under him and pierced through the calf muscle. 

Weidman, father of three and married to his high school sweetheart Marivi, would need multiple surgeries over months to repair the leg, and he missed more than two years. He lost his return bout to Brad Tavares on Aug. 19, 2023, but would go on to beat Bruno Silva last March before losing the final match of his UFC career to Eryk Anders at UFC 310 last December.

“I’m leaving the door open for any big opportunities out there," Weidman said, "but we’re moving on to see my life develop in different ways.”

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