It was a weird night of fights, and right before the doctors called off this fight, you can overhear Weidman’s corner confirmed that he was asked what day it was, and he didn’t know. That’s not a good sign. They’re overheard saying that Chris wouldn’t know what day of the week it was regardless of whether he was concussed or not, but fight safety has to be a priority.
They can be heard in the following clip saying that Weidman didn’t know what day it was, and he thought the month was FEBRUARY.
Then they go on to talk trash about Mousasi, calling him a “Dirty M**********r.”
Right after the “illegal” knees landed, Weidman was sitting down, clearly in a ton of pain, clearly in rough shape. He looked to be fading a bit even before that exchange, and these brutal knees to the head were the nail in the coffin.
When the ref said the knees were illegal and was giving Weidman some time, there’s an incentive for him to play up the injury in order to get a victory via disqualification if he can’t continue. We’re not saying that’s what happened, but we’re just pointing out that that’s what happens if Chris can’t continue due to an illegal strike.
As soon as it turned out the strike WAS legal, however, Weidman said he was ready to go, despite the doctors seeing signs of a concussion. That’s where his corner should have stepped in. If he was too hurt to continue when there was a possibility of a DQ win on the line, he’s still too hurt to continue once it’s revealed that the strikes were legal.
If your fighter doesn’t know what day of the week it is or what the month is, maybe it’s time to call it a night?
Again, we’re not trying to jump to any conclusions here, or to make any sort of accusations. A lot of speculation right after the fight was that Weidman was milking it to get the DQ victory, but it’s also possible that he was just very legitimately hurt, and started to snap out of it after a couple minutes of recovery time. In either case, it’s good that this fight was stopped.
Chris Weidman plans to fight the loss, stating that the referee determined the strikes were legal after watching a replay, but replays aren’t allowed in the state of New York, so the ref should have stuck to their original call is his argument… Which would have given Weidman a DQ victory, rather than using the facts that we have at our disposal.
It’s a weird situation all around, and you gotta feel bad for Chris, his team who worked so hard to prepare for this fight, not to mention Mousasi who was on his last fight of the contract and looking for a more spectacular win, which he would have gotten if the ref hadn’t of stepped in.
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