Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi has some advice for former Ultimate Fighting Championship 185-pound titleholder Chris Weidman: “I would retire.”
Weidman has had a difficult last six years in his career. After successfully defending his title for a third time in his May 2015 win over Vitor Belfort, the New York native has lost six of his last eight, and in five of those defeats “All American” was sent home early after devastating knockouts. However, his April technical knockout loss to Uriah Hall was a new low point, when he broke two bones in his leg on a checked leg kick.
Gegard Mousasi believe Chris Weidman has enough reasons to call it quits
Mousasi has a history with the 37-year-old after handing him one of his recent knockout losses at UFC 210 four years ago. The former UFC contender, and Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, was recently asked about his former foe’s run of competitive bad luck. And it seems the 56 fight veteran believes there is only one sensible course of action for Weidman.
“If it was me and if I had 29 surgeries, I would say this is not good. And especially if you get knocked out three or four times in a row, and then you break your leg in a bad way where it’s going to take a year to recover, at this age — he’s a little bit older than me I think, 37 maybe, and he’s going to come back at 38 or 39 — it’s difficult to come back. And then how long are you going to continue? At 38 or 39, you’re over your peak. You know what I mean,” Mousasi told MMAFighting.com.
“It’s not like you’re going to get better, especially coming [off] losses, losses, losses. That’s my opinion — I wouldn’t continue. If I had a serious injury like that, I would right away stop fighting at his age. At his age, I would retire.”
The former UFC titleholder has been very open about his desire to keep fighting and has chronicled his recovery process on his social media accounts and YouTube channel. He also let fans follow along for a recent doctor visit to document a setback, as both his fibula and tibia have not been healing as well as hoped.
It’s why Mousasi is more in favor of seeing the middleweight great retire, because not only is his recent injury a difficult challenge to overcome physically, but the Dutch star believes it will be something he’ll have to always confront mentally in the future.
“Even if he comes back, it will always be in the back of his mind, ‘I can get injured, something bad can happen to me.’ So that’s why I’m saying, at his age, it’s more difficult. I don’t say it cannot be done, but it’s [more difficult],” said Mousasi.
Mousasi will defend his 185-pound title in the main event of Bellator 264 against John Salter on August 13, from inside the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The event’s main card will air on Showtime, starting at 9 pm ET.
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