UFC 261 featured a horrendous ending to the Chris Weidman v. Uriah Hall match-up, ending with Weidman breaking his leg on a shin kick. The video is tough to watch but comes almost a decade since Weidman defeated Anderson Silva in similar fashion. The video embedded below is NSFW and hard to watch, so fair warning here.
Weidman seemed to be fit for a fight right when the bell rang, but just seconds into the fight, he kicked Hall in his shin and snapped his own leg. He ended up being stretchered out of the Octagon and taken to a local hospital, according to reports.
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NSFW
WARNING!!!#UFC261 pic.twitter.com/DM4hCG0bFF
— Fungible Dave (@FungibleDave) April 25, 2021
Despite the gruesome injury, Weidman gave the crowd a sign that things would be OK on his way out of the arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The match-up was meant to be a chance for revenge for Uriah Hall, but the low kick in the opening round put that to a halt quite fast.
The fight only lasted 17 seconds, with Weidman left unaware until attempting to put weight on his leg and having it bend. The injury is almost exactly the same as the injury sustained by Anderson Silva at UFC 168 in Dec. 2013. Both injuries are hard to watch top to bottom.
Anderson Silva loses his title re-shot to Weidman via complete leg fracture on a checked leg kick. 7 years ago, Weidman is on the receiving end. Unreal. #UFC261
— Stephen DeAugustino (@DeAugieDogie) April 25, 2021
While this is a hard addition to the night, eyes are still on the Usman vs. Masvidal rematch main event. For Weidman, the injury is a topper to a horrible string of appearances in the Octagon. He’s been 2-5 since 2015 and is currently ranked no. 11 in the middleweight standings. Hall has been quite successful at the same time, winning three bouts straight.
The bittersweet point of the bout is that Weidman felt he was primed to make a statement and aim at taking on champion Israel Adesanya in the future. “There’s more to this fight than me and Uriah Hall. I really want to make a statement in this fight. I see myself going out there and completely dominating Uriah Hall. Making a big statement. Letting people know that I am still here, there’s just some people that might have forgot that I’m a problem,” Weidman said to MMA Fighting before the fight. While this isn’t the end of his career, the recovery will be lengthy. Hopefully, things will end positively for the fighter.
