After a seemingly never-ending series of setbacks Chris Weidman finally got a win under his belt tonight at UFC On ESPN 54 by TKO’ing Bruno Silva, but it was a controversial finish due to eye-pokes during the fight-ending sequence that led to the fight later being amended to a technical decision.
Round One:
Body kick from Weidman. He’s taking the center of the Octagon to start this fight. Now a front kick to the body from him.
Body kick for Silva now. Front kick to the body for Weidman again and even trying one upstairs. Silva looking to fire back and lands one, but Weidman takes it.
Weidman still applying lots of pressure here and unleashing kicks. Now into the clinch and working knees. Weidman in on a takedown now against the cage. He drags Silva down and tries to take his back. Silva up on all fours now as Weidman still has a body lock.
Weidman lands a couple of punches to the head while still preventing Silva from fully standing upright. Knee to the thigh now for the former champ.
A minute to go in the round after another knee to the thigh from Weidman. Silva still remaining in this position with four points of contact on the mat as Weidman throws a series of knees to the thigh.
Round Two:
Weidman with a leg kick, but Silva lands a clean counter punch. Weidman trying for a takedown, but nothing doing.
Striking range again. Left hand for Silva. Front kick to the body from Weidman and only narrowly avoids a counter-punch.
Body kick for Silva. Now a jab from him. Body kick for Weidman. Brief flurry from Silva and a couple of punches land. Now another punch for Silva. Weidman tries for the takedown but it doesn’t pay off.
Weidman has to back up as Silva charges forward throwing punches. Missed leg kick from Silva. Body punch for Weidman.
One-two from Silva but gets a thumb in the eye for his troubles which forces a stoppage to give him time to recover.
Silva is ready to get going again. leg kick for Weidman. Now a body kick from him. Silva responds by bursting forward with a couple of punches.
High kick attempt from Silva doesn’t work out. Right hand for Weidman. Weidman attempts a takedown and Silva shut them down quickly.
Nice jab for Silva. Now a nice counter left from Weidman. Missed hook from Weidman and eats a counter from Silva.
Weidman with a kick and then jab. Windmill punches miss from Silva. Hard right hand from Silva and tries to land more behind it. Jab for Weidman. Now a punch to the body.
Jab for Weidman but eats a big punch from Silva in response. Knee lands upstairs from Silva and Weidman’s left eye is swelling up.
However, Weidman is up for a war and so he starts throwing back and hurts Silva. Weidman unloading more punches as Silva seems a bit frozen and just on the defensive. Final seconds of the round and suddenly it’s Silva who is getting some payback with a few punches.
Round Three:
Missed head kick attempt from Weidman. Solid jab for Silva. He throws again and Silva grimaces and complains of an eyepoke. That forces another stoppage for him to recover. The ref thinks they both eye-poked each other, but the replay is inconclusive on that.
Nonetheless after some time to recover Silva is ready to go again. Nice jab for Weidman. Right hand gets through for Silva. He tries for a head kick but misses.
Three minutes of the round remaining. Good right hand for Weidman. Punch lands for Silva but Weidman connects and Silva drops while clutching his eye. Weidman landing hammerfists and that’s it, the ref ends the fight.
Silva is complaining bitterly and when the replay emerges it’s clear why – Weidman eyepoked him twice in quick succession before a glancing right hook behind the ear sent him down to the mat – clutching his eye as he did so.
This is a very unfortunate situation. Weidman had already eyepoked Silva twice earlier in the fight and then clearly got him two more times in that fight-ending sequence.
With that in mind there’s a case to be made for a no-contest here, but Weidman is over the moon to have won, and the officials aren’t taking that away from him – he gets a much needed win under his belt via TKO at 2.18mins of the third round. After everything he’s been through he’s earned some good fortune, but that’s a controversial ending.
Update: The outcome was later amended to a technical decision victory (30-27 x3) for Weidman after the commission reviewed the footage and decided that a TKO finish was not an appropriate outcome due to the eyepokes. Read more on this HERE.
