Chris Weidman claims opponent was “looking for a way out” after eye poke review changes UFC Atlantic City result

At the recent UFC Atlantic City event, Chris Weidman discussed his opponent’s response to the TKO defeat and shared his own thoughts on the matter.

Weidman made his comeback to the octagon against Bruno Silva from Brazil at UFC Atlantic City. The fight was a tightly contested one, but the 39-year-old emerged victorious with a third-round TKO. In the third round, Silva was knocked down and Weidman capitalized on the opportunity by delivering ground-and-pound strikes.

Despite Silva’s initial objection, a review of the replay showed that Weidman unintentionally poked him in both eyes, leading to his fall and ultimately determining the outcome of the fight. Despite Silva’s strong disagreement, the decision was ultimately altered to a unanimous victory for Chris Weidman.

At the post-fight press conference, a representative from MMA Media inquired about Weidman’s evaluation of the situation. In response, the previous UFC middleweight champion offered his thoughts:

“I’ll never question a guy if he’s saying he’s getting poked in the eye. But you can’t just drop every time you feel something is touching your eyeball, you know. He poked me in the eye bad one time and stood there, took it. Unless the referee is going to say something, I don’t drop.”

Weidman, who has a wrestling background, cautioned against attempting to grab the referee’s attention and stopping mid-contest, as it can backfire. He also shared his thoughts on Silva, stating:

“You’ve got to be always ready, ready to defend yourself at all times. He dropped again. I don’t know. It was like, he was looking for a way out. I don’t know. You can’t just turn your back and fall to the ground every time that your eyeball feels poked.”

Weidman’s comments can be found below:

The eye poke that triggered the final sequence was just one of numerous fouls committed by both fighters throughout the match. Other MMA fighters expressed strong dissent with the outcome.