Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion, Chris Weidman, was looking pretty good there for a couple of rounds in the UFC 230 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event, which took place last Saturday night (Nov. 3, 2018) inside Madison Square Garden in New York City.
In what was an exciting, back-and-forth affair, the “All American” wrestler was content to stand and bang with his Brazilian jiu-jitsu rival, Ronaldo Souza, despite the vaunted ground game boasted by both competitors.
Then one punch changed everything (video).
“Unfortunately last night didn’t work out for me,” Weidman wrote on Instagram. “Congrats to Jacare & his family & team on a amazing win. He is a true warrior & it was an honor to share the Octagon with him. Thanks to everyone for the support, love & prayers. I appreciate it all. I will be back better from this!”
No doubt he’ll be back … but better?
It’s not unreasonable to express doubt. This marks the fourth loss for Weidman in his last five outings. More troubling is that he’s been finished in all four defeats. That’s a dramatic fall for a middleweight who once ruled the division uncontested.
Working in his favor is that Weidman has only lost to the best of the division, so it’s not like he’s out there getting starched by every Tom, Can, and Harry. That said, expect him to plummet when the latest rankings are released later this week.
For more UFC 230 results click here.