Chris Weidman isn’t ready to walk away from MMA just yet. Despite his age and a tough history with injuries, the former middleweight champion says he’s still passionate about competing and isn’t making any quick decisions on retirement.
Weidman is set to face Eryk Anders at UFC 309 on November 16, in New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden. It’s his first fight in his home state since a tough break—literally—against Uriah Hall at UFC 261 in 2021, where he suffered a serious leg injury. After a long recovery, he made his return in March, securing a technical decision over Bruno Silva at UFC on ESPN 54.
Turning 40 this past June, Weidman admits that age and his injury history might suggest it’s time to consider stepping away. He’s had over 30 surgeries, including 14 on his leg alone, and acknowledges the toll it’s taken. But for now, he’s focused on the present and still finds joy in training and fighting.
“I’m pretty much taking it fight by fight,” Weidman told MMAFighting.com.
Chris Weidman Talks MMA Future, Still has Passion for MMA
“I’ll make my decision after the fight. I’m not planning on putting my gloves down or anything like that either win or lose. But I’m planning to just not make any rushed decisions.”
For Weidman, the routines and challenges of MMA are something he’s not ready to give up:
“Right now, I still feel great. I’m excited. I love training. I love being in camps. I love just the whole discipline of it and how it keeps you on routine,” he shared. “It’s really addictive. I’m super competitive so it’s just like the ultimate best thing for me to be doing.”
But he’s realistic, acknowledging that his body won’t hold up forever:
“Obviously you can’t do it forever,” he added. “So that’s why I’ve got to take it fight by fight and kind of just weigh the pros and cons of everything and see where we’re at.”
Recently, he had a reminder of his age while playing baseball with his son. The experience underscored the toll of years in MMA:
Weidman Still Feels Great in Training
“With MMA, I still feel great, I still feel fine on the mats. I don’t feel 40 years old, all these surgeries, I still feel great,” he explained: “I’m going with these younger guys and doing as good as usual. As good as I ever have.”
However, trying his hand at another sport showed him a different story:
“I played baseball the other day with my son, both my kids are on these travel baseball teams,” Weidman said, “We had to see who could throw harder, so they had the gun out to measure the speed… and I was never the fastest thrower, but my 12-year-old son is not going to beat me on the speedometer thing. He beat me bad. He threw a 62, I threw a 51 and my shoulder hurt and I felt terrible. Like two pitches, and I’m done. It was awful.”
Chris Weidman continued, explaining how his son even struck him out:
“Then we got to switch it around and your kid got to pitch to you to see if he could strike you out as if it was a real game… He struck me out and I’m telling you, 10 years ago, I will say I really believe that would not have happened. I think I would throw harder, and I think I’m hitting the ball off of him. The age definitely, I felt old doing that. But when I’m in the MMA gym, I still feel good.”
How Long Left for Chris Weidman?
Weidman’s future largely depends on his performance against Anders. While he feels strong in the gym, he knows that’s different from fighting under the bright lights of the octagon.
“Honestly, I’m still taking it fight by fight to see how I feel, to see how I perform,” he said, “Right now in the gym my body, I feel good and I’m doing great in the gym but I’ve got to be able to perform under the lights.”
How many fights do you think Chris Weidman has left? Let us know in the comments!
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
