Yahoo Sports Chris Weidman addresses 'elephant in the room' after signing with GFL following UFC retirement
Chris Weidman's name appearing in the Global Fight League draft confused many.
That's because longtime UFC fighter Weidman (16-8 MMA, 12-8 UFC) had just announced his retirement less than 10 days ago, before opting to continue fighting.
The former UFC middleweight champion, who was Team New York's second pick in the GFL draft, explained his decision to join the league. He sees big opportunities to avenge prior career losses.
"The elephant in the room is I just retired from the UFC," Weidman said during the GFL broadcast. "A lot of people thought I was done fighting. I didn't know. I thought maybe I am done fighting. I was kind of open to other opportunities outside of the UFC, but it had to be good.
"This is a league where there's a lot of guys that I have a history with. You've got Luke Rockhold, you've got Gegard Mousasi, you've got Uriah Hall. Rockhold was my first loss ever. That was a tough pill for me to swallow. We were supposed to rematch a bunch of times in UFC, but it never happened. So that would be a fight I'd love to have. Uriah Hall broke my damn leg in my last fight. He was a gentleman about it, but we had fought twice.
"... It's older dudes that I have a lot of history with. I love to compete and we make a whole lot of money. It's not something I really feel like I can say no to. It's really an exciting time for me."
Weidman, 40, most recently competed at UFC 310 this past December when he was knocked out by Eryk Anders in the second round.
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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Chris Weidman addresses 'elephant in the room' after signing with GFL following UFC retirement
