“Drop to the ground and was crying,” Chris Weidman calls Bruno Silva’s eye-poke complaints as ‘unsportsmanlike’

Chris Weidman defends the official decision of his bout at UFC Atlantic City despite controversies involved.


“Drop to the ground and was crying,” Chris Weidman calls Bruno Silva’s eye-poke complaints as ‘unsportsmanlike’

Chris Weidman speaks about Bruno Silva's reaction to the eye-pokes ( Image via Imago/X )

Chris Weidman fought Bruno Silva in the most controversial bouts in recent times. Weidman did not like Silva’s reaction to the eye pokes. Recently, he told Ariel Helwani about his side of the story and criticized Silva’s behavioral tendencies inside the octagon.

Chris Weidman addressed the controversial eye poke on the MMA Hour. Helwani and Weidman discussed Silva’s overreaction to any touch to the eye area. In recent times, most fighters have not reacted the same way Silva did. As such, Weidman felt Silva’s action hurt the credibility of MMA as a tough sport.

He got in the habit of just anytime his eyeball got touched at all. It was like he dropped to the ground and he was like crying and he needed time and all this stuff. Obviously, I don't wanna poke him in the eye, but I just also think like what are we turning this into? MMA is a tough sport.
Chris Weidman via The MMA Hour
YouTube video

Weidman compared it with what he told his kids when he coached them in wrestling. He said bad things would happen to them on the mat. Weidman said that one should not just drop to the ground, turn around, and expect the referee to know what was happening inside their head. Instead, he said Silva should have gotten the referee’s attention and let him know he got poked in the eye.

FS Video

The All-American reiterated that he did not intentionally poke Silva in the eye, and the entire ordeal was unintentional. Despite the controversies involved, the Atlantic City officials decided to award Weidman the victory. They ruled it a technical UD win for the ‘All-American.’ The result did not sit well with Silva, and the Brazilian fighter formally moved ahead to overturn the result of the fight.

Bruno Silva will appeal the loss to Chris Weidman after almost going blind at UFC Atlantic City

UFC Atlantic City was a bad day for Bruno Silva. The Brazilian fighter got poked in the eye multiple times in the bout. The referee did such a poor job while officiating the bout. One could argue that the referee should have penalized Weidman for the first set of eye-poke. Usually, multiple eye-pokes might result in disqualification or at least a No-contest.

Chris Weidman vs. Bruno Silva resulted in eye injury for both fighters
Chris Weidman vs. Bruno Silva (MMA Fighting)

During a recent interview, Silva expressed his dissatisfaction with referee Gary Copeland. He said the commission could have declared the fight as a no-contest. Instead, the fight was declared a technical UD win in favor of Weidman. Silva declared that he would file an appeal against the decision with the commission.

Silva cited the most important rule in MMA – referees meet fighters backstage to warn them about extending fingers during the fight. As such, Weidman broke that rule and still walked away with the win. Silva has credible grounds to win the appeal. However, the Athletic Commissions rarely ever overturn a decision they made. As such, the appeal might get rejected despite having a legitimate reason.

In case you missed it!