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UFC's Chris Weidman Shares X-Rays of Gruesome Leg Injury Before, After Surgery

Mike Chiari@mikechiariFeatured ColumnistApril 27, 2021

Chris Weidman is seen against Kelvin Gastelum during their mixed martial arts bout at UFC on Fox 25, Saturday, July 22, 2017, in New York. Weidman won via 3rd round submission. (AP Photo/Steve Luciano)
Steve Luciano/Associated Press

UFC star Chris Weidman showed off his surgeon's handiwork Tuesday after going under the knife to repair a broken leg.

Weidman shared photos of his right leg both before and after surgery on Twitter:

Chris Weidman @chrisweidman

Few X-rays pre-surgery and post-surgery https://t.co/7zLrBH4jZt

The 36-year-old suffered the gruesome-looking injury Saturday at UFC 261 while throwing a kick in the opening seconds of his fight against Uriah Hall.

After Hall absorbed the kick, Weidman went down, and the fight was called in favor of Hall by technical knockout just 17 seconds in.

Per ESPN's Brett Okamoto, Hall offered his best to Weidman following the fight:

"I've got nothing but respect for Chris Weidman. He's truly one of the best. It's a crazy story, that he was the first man I fought that defeated me [in 2010], that introduced me to fear. I didn't know what fear was. Then we went different paths. He was the first person to defeat Anderson [Silva in the UFC], and I was the last. It's crazy how we ended up here again.

"I wanted to put on a great performance, but man, I feel so bad. I hope he's OK. I wish his family well."

The fact that Weidman suffered the type of injury he did against Hall was ironic since a similar thing happened to Silva when he fought Weidman several years ago.

Weidman beat Silva for the UFC middleweight title at UFC 162 in 2013, and they had a rematch later that year. During the second round of the rematch, Silva broke his leg while kicking Weidman, much like what happened to Weidman against Hall at UFC 261.

Silva posted the following about Weidman on Instagram on Saturday night:

"My deepest and most sincere sentiments champ. Have faith, I wish you a speedy recovery. In this moment I wish you and your family light, love and knowledge. To the fans of the sport, please respect this moment of this incredible warrior and let's wish that he is 100% very recovered soon. May God bless you and your family."

With the loss to Hall, Weidman's career record in professional MMA fell to 15-6. He has had an especially tough go lately with losses in three of his past four fights and six of his past eight.

The Ultimate Fighter alum began his career a perfect 13-0, including the victories over Silva, plus title defenses against Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort.

Weidman suffered his first loss in December 2015 at UFC 194 to Luke Rockhold and seemingly hasn't been the same since then, although he was trying to build on a 2020 win over Omari Akhmedov when he faced Hall on Saturday.

Provided Weidman wants to continue his UFC career, the Long Island, New York, native now faces a long road back, although he can look toward Silva for inspiration, as the longtime middleweight champion fought seven more times in his career after breaking his leg against Weidman.