Chris Weidman beats Bruno Silva for 1st UFC win since broken leg
Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman defeated Bruno Silva via technical decision at UFC Atlantic City on Saturday night to earn his first victory since 2020 and breaking his leg in 2021.
Weidman appeared to knock out Silva late in the third round, with referee Gary Copeland waving off the bout. However, instant replay showed the stoppage stemmed from an eye poke. As a result, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board went to the scorecards at the time of the foul and ruled that Weidman won the fight via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
This is wildest shit I've ever seen. A double eye poke combination lol. And this was just scored as a TKO for Weidman. Wild. pic.twitter.com/pmhLQ4Epvd
— MartialMind 🇳🇬🇺🇲 (@MartialMind1) March 31, 2024
Weidman snapped a two-fight losing streak with the triumph against Silva.
The 39-year-old controlled the action in the first two rounds, clinching Silva against the fence in Round 1 before trading punches with him and landing solid kicks in a back-and-forth Round 2. Weidman rocked Silva late in the second and teed off with shots against the fence.
The result is Weidman's first win since he defeated Omari Akhmedov by unanimous decision in August 2020.
The New York native broke his leg in gruesome fashion 17 seconds into an April 2021 rematch against Uriah Hall. Weidman spent more than two years on the sidelines, making his long-awaited Octagon return in a loss to Brad Tavares at UFC 292 last August.
Weidman held the UFC middleweight title from 2013-15.