There were several UFC veterans competing at UFC 310 on Saturday and unfortunately, all three lost their respective fights, resulting in Dana White imploring that they finally call it a day.
With UFC 310 being the final PPV of 2024, the promotion opted to stack the card from top to bottom, meaning several veterans were included on the bill which has ended disappointingly.
Dana White’s Contender Series has increased in popularity and has become the promotions main source for signing new talent, meaning this year has seen more roster cuts than ever before.
Clay Guida, Chris Weidman, and Anthony Smith all lose their UFC 310 fights
Beginning the night for the veteran trio was former UFC lightweight contender, Clay Guida. The 43-year-old took on Chase Hooper, who since moving up to 155lbs last year, has won four fights in a row.
This fight saw a 17-year age gap, which from the beginning sparked concerns. ‘The Carpenter’ Guida has always been well known for his relentless pressure and intense cardio, however, he didn’t get the chance to showcase that against ‘The Dream’.
The 25-year-old secured himself an armbar win in the very first round, with this matchup showing the two different ends of an MMA journey, with Hooper now cementing himself as a future contender in the lightweight division.
Bizarrely up next, still on the early prelims portion of the card, was former middleweight champion, Chris Weidman.
‘The All-American’ was scheduled to take on Eryk Anders at UFC 309 in his home state of New York, however, just a few hours before their fight, Anders withdrew because of food poisoning. Fast forward to UFC 310, and Anders scored the TKO finish over the 40-year-old in round two.
The final veteran competing on the card was former light heavyweight title challenger, Anthony Smith, as he took on the returning Dominick Reyes.
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Fans have been calling for ‘Lionheart’s’ retirement for some time now, and it was increased this Saturday when he was bludgeoned by Reyes in round two.
Concerningly, Reyes revealed at the UFC 310 post fight press conference that during the fight, Smith put his hands down and told Reyes to punch him in the face because ‘he wanted to feel something’.
“There was a point in the first round where he put his hands down and was like, ‘Punch me in the face’… and that’s my job, right,” Reyes said.
Dana White implores that Guida, Weidman, and Reyes all retire following UFC 310
Despite having all lost their fights, none of the three fighters officially stated that they will be retiring, which has led to concern from not only the fanbase, but from UFC CEO Dana White.
“They all retire tonight. They should all retire tonight,” White suggested at the UFC 310 post fight press conference.
The UFC boss then got relatively heated with a member of the media who asked him what he thought about Kron Gracie’s performance against Bryce Mitchell as White felt as though he was fishing for him to ‘Sh*t on all the fighters’.
“So, you’re like, ‘What do you think about Weidman and this guy and that guy?’, I said they should retire. ‘What do you think about Kron tonight?’, I don’t like the way you’re leading me down this road, I know what you’re doing, you know the answer to the question but you just want me to say it or something.
“You’re saying ‘Kron looked limited, what do you think?’, do you have anything positive or do you want me to sh*t on everybody on the card tonight?” White continued.
Despite that, the majority of the UFC fanbase agree with White that Guida, Weidman, and Smith should all retire following their respective careers.
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