Chris Weidman claims opponent was "looking for a way out" after eye poke review changes UFC Atlantic City result

Chris Weidman shared his thoughts on his opponent's reaction to the TKO loss at the recent UFC Atlantic City event.

Weidman returned to competition against Brazil's Bruno Silva on the UFC Atlantic City main card. In the closely contested fight, the 39-year-old secured a third-round TKO victory when it appeared that Silva was knocked down in Round 3, and 'All American' followed up with ground-and-pound strikes.

However, the replay revealed that Weidman accidentally poked Silva in both eyes, which caused the Brazilian fighter to drop, initiating the finishing sequence. Silva strongly disagreed with the outcome and it was later announced that the result was changed to a unanimous decision victory for Chris Weidman.

During the post-fight press conference, a member of MMA Media asked Weidman to share his assessment of the situation. the former UFC middleweight champion replied:

​

​

"I'll never question a guy if he's saying he's getting poked in the eye. But you can't just drop every time you feel something is touching your eyeball, you know. He poked me in the eye bad one time and stood there, took it. Unless the referee is going to say something, I don't drop."

Weidman, who comes from a wrestling background, said that trying to catch the referee's attention and stopping mid-contest can even work against you. Speaking further about Silva, he added:

​

​

"You've got to be always ready, ready to defend yourself at all times. He dropped again. I don't know. It was like, he was looking for a way out. I don't know. You can't just turn your back and fall to the ground every time that your eyeball feels poked."

Catch Weidman's comments below:

The eye poke that initiated the finishing sequence was one of the many fouls committed by both fighters during the fight. Fellow MMA fighters registered strong disagreement with the result.

​