On this day in 2014, the UFC’s middleweight title was contested in a great main event.
Chris Weidman had his setbacks during his time in the UFC but no one will ever be able to take his biggest accomplishments away from him.
‘The All-American’ competed 20 times inside the Octagon from 2011-2024, with Weidman retiring from the UFC earlier this year.
His greatest accomplishment remains his bout at UFC 162 where he produced one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport to end the record-setting run of middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
Following his rematch with Silva ending in a devastating leg injury, Weidman looked to continue his time at the top of the division by facing off against another legend of the sport.
Chris Weidman weathered Lyoto Machida’s attempts at a late turnaround to retain the middleweight title
At UFC 175 on July 5 of 2014, Chris Weidman looked to make the second defense of his middleweight title having won the belt by beating Anderson Silva nearly exactly one year earlier.
To dispel the criticism that he had been lucky in his UFC 168 rematch with Silva, the new champion was matched up with another dangerous Brazilian striker.
Lyoto Machida looked to become just the third fighter in UFC history to have won titles in multiple weight classes after moving down to middleweight in 2013.
While the challenger had some success on the feet, Weidman was able to establish an early lead in the fight, banking the first few rounds thanks to his constant pressure which allowed him to outland his opponent.
However, in the fourth round, the tide looked like it might be about to turn as Weidman and Machida produced one of the rounds of the year.
Weidman was forced to weather some adversity as his takedowns, having secured 5 of 13 throughout the bout, started to be harder to come by.
Machida taunted and picked away at the American but despite a final flurry in the fifth round, he was unable to put his opponent away which led to Weidman winning a unanimous decision.
Chris Weidman went on to beat another Brazilian legend in his third and final title defense
Chris Weidman would return to the Octagon for his third title defense the following May at UFC 187 where he faced yet another Brazilian icon.
This time around, ‘The All-American’ left no room for a comeback as he stopped Vitor Belfort in the opening round.
Belfort opened his opponent up early and let his strikes go but after Weidman secured his first takedown, the bloodied champion unleashed relentless ground-and-pound to get the finish.
Weidman lost the title later that year to Luke Rockhold, with a difficult run of results ending his time at the top of the division.