Chris Weidman and Bruno Silva faced off in a middleweight bout at UFC Atlantic City this Saturday, with the finishing sequence leading to a surprising result.
Chris Weidman returned to the win column following a loss to Brad Tavares back in August, but the way in which the win came was an unfortunate one.
A sloppy end to a sloppy fight
After a solid first round, it seemed as though ‘The All American’ was looking in good shape and was on his way to putting on a solid performance against Bruno Silva.
Round two played out a bit closer than the first five minutes, but the 39-year-old did well to hold his own in the exchanges with Silva and didn’t seem to be slowing down at all. Throughout the first two rounds, there were several instances in which the referee halted the action due to accidental eye pokes from Weidman.
In round two, the action was halted and Silva was given a cold compress to wipe his eye after receiving a poke. The fight carried on and a third round was coming.
After a solid first round but a sloppy second round, a wild third round was predicted, and that’s what we got. Towards the end of the round, it seemed as though Weidman connected with a solid left hook that put Silva down to the ground.
As soon as the shot connected, the Brazilian winced and put his hand over his eye as if to indicate he had been poked once again. Despite that, the former middleweight champion followed him down to the ground where he reigned down some ground and pound, resulting in the fight being stopped.
It wasn’t as clear-cut as that though. As Weidman jumped on top of the cage in celebration, Silva made it back to his feet and began complaining to the referee that he had been poked in the eye which led to the finishing sequence.
The replay showed two clear eye-pokes with both hands from Weidman, resulting in Silva dropping to the ground, showing it wasn’t a hook that did the damage. Despite that Weidman was afforded the technical decision win due to it being over halfway complete.
UFC fighters and fans react to the numerous eye-pokes
Commenting on X, UFC lightweight, Justin Gaethje said: “Too bad the UFC don’t want to change those s*** gloves.”
The promotion did in fact make a slight amendment to the gloves last year, increasing the length of the finger holes, making it harder for fighters to bend their fingers. It is something that has been debated for years, with renowned MMA coach, Trevor Whittman offering a better alternative, but the UFC sticking with their own design.
@AnyAction_ commented: “Weidman acting wild after finger blasting Silva’s eyes…”
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