Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman announces retirement

Chris Weidman, the former Hofstra wrestler who burst into the UFC and shocked the world by knocking out Anderson Silva to win the UFC middleweight title, has called time on his UFC career.

Weidman appeared as a panelist on the UFC 311 Weigh-In Show at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California alongside Daniel Cormier, Laura Sanko and host Dan Hellie, when he decided that the time was right to share the news of his decision.

"Since I decided to get into this sport, since 2009, the goal was to be a UFC fighter. Then immediately the goal was to be a UFC world champion," he explained.

"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."

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Weidman fought 24 times in all, winning 16 and losing eight. He went 2-5 in his last seven fights, but by then he'd been through a remarkable career, and returned from one of the most horrific injuries in the sport.

The New Yorker, who trained under legendary coach Ray Longo, raced to a 4-0 record before being offered his shot in the UFC. Five more wins followed, including victories over respected contenders Demian Maia and Mark Munoz, as he earned a shot at the all-conquering middleweight champion and pound-for-pound great, Anderson Silva.

And at UFC 162, Weidman turned the MMA world upside down with a stunning knockout of Silva to capture the middleweight belt. Subsequent title defenses followed as he defeated Silva (via a horrible injury TKO), Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort, but he was eventually dethroned by Luke Rockhold at UFC 194.

Weidman's form never really recovered from that title loss in 2015, with "The All-American" only winning three more fights in the nine years that followed.

His days of winning a title may have gone, but Weidman showed his mettle in a different way after he suffered a terrible broken leg against Uriah Hall at UFC 261.

The injury saw Weidman endure a painful and lengthy journey back to fighting fitness that eventually took him to UFC 292 after nearly two years away. He lost that fight, against Brad Tavares, but in the eyes of many, simply getting back to the Octagon was already a huge victory.

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"It's been a ride," he 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.

"I'm just proud that the UFC gave me an outlet to compete against some of the best guys in the world. I'm proud of the resume and the type of guys I was able to fight, I respect them all so much."

Now Weidman will contemplate his next move outside of the Octagon. The Global Fight League have rather conveniently left a spot for a manager for their New York team, alongside Weidman's longtime coach Longo, and that role may appeal.

Alternatively, he may look to scratch his competitive itch elsewhere, either in MMA or competitive grappling.

"It's weird, it’s kind of part of your identity," he admitted.

"You’ve got to move on, so I'm opening up the new chapter of my life and I'm excited about the future and I'm leaving the door open for opportunities, any big opportunities out there, but we're moving on to see my life develop in different ways."

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