Dana White urges Chris Weidman to retire following loss to Brad Tavares at UFC 292

UFC President Dana White would rather not see Chris Weidman return to the Octagon.

Weidman competed at UFC 292 after being out of action since 2021 due to a gruesome leg injury. The former UFC Middleweight Champion went one-on-one with Brad Tavares in the featured UFC 292 preliminary bout. While Chris Weidman had his moments, his lead leg took a pounding from the kicks of Tavares. The bout went the distance and Tavares was awarded the unanimous decision win.

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Dana White Calls For Chris Weidman To Retire

During the UFC 292 post-fight press conference, Dana White revealed that he wants to see Chris Weidman call it a career (via Aaron Bronsteter).

“I love him, I love his family and I think he should retire,” White said. “We spoke to (Dr. Davidson) and he thinks he blew either his ACL, PCL or MCL. The guy is coming back from a gruesome injury and father time is not our friend at all.”

White went to say that if Weidman asked him for another fight, he’d urge him to retire. The UFC boss said Weidman is looking at a recovery time of at least one year.

The former UFC middleweight titleholder went from expressing his gripes over his preliminary spot on the UFC 292 card to being urged to retire. Here’s what Weidman told ESPN going into UFC 292:

“I’m the king of the prelims now, let’s go,” Chris Weidman said. “A long time, it’s kind of disrespectful, to be honest. I’m not gonna pretend like it’s not. To be out for two years with a broken (leg), I broke my leg on the mats of the UFC on a pay-per-view, first card since COVID, first fully packed arena in Jacksonville, put my body on the line and they put me on a prelim?

“That’s a bad idea. You know what? It probably works out for everybody at the end of the day because it’s a little bit of motivation. Like, ‘Alright, motherf*ers, you disrespect me like that. What, you think I’m done?’ You think I’m here to just see how I feel? No, I’m here to make a statement.”

Things have gone downhill for Chris Weidman ever since he lost the 185-pound gold to Luke Rockhold back in late 2015. The “All-American” went from having a perfect 13-0 record to going 2-7 in his last nine outings.