Addressing the ‘Elephant in the Room’ – Chris Weidman Comments on UFC Exit and GFL Draft
Chris Weidman is addressing the elephant in the room.
Earlier this month, the ‘All American’ announced his retirement from mixed martial arts during the UFC 311 weigh-in show. Weidman was given ample time to make the announcement, bringing an end to a 13-year run inside the Octagon that saw him earn wins over Demian Maia, Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, and Kelvin Gastelum. Along the way, Weidman captured the middleweight championship and successfully defended it three times.
Eight days later, Weidman is officially coming out of retirement.
During Friday’s live Global Fight League draft, ‘All American’ was selected by Team New York as the seventh overall pick and is expected to take part in the promotion’s inaugural regular season when it kicks off in April.
During the live draft broadcast, Weidman offered some insight into his decision to cut his retirement short one week after announcing it.
“The elephant in the room is I just retired from UFC,” Weidman said. “A lot of people thought I was done fighting,” explained Weidman. “I didn’t know. I thought maybe I’m done fighting. I was kind of open to other opportunities outside of the UFC, but it had to be good. This is a league with a lot of guys I have a history with. You got Luke Rockhold, you got Gegard Mousasi, you got Uriah Hall.
“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 other fighters on Team New York
Joining Weidman on Team New York will be former UFC light 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.
