Chris Weidman explains reason for UFC 199 withdrawal

Chris Weidman posted on his Facebook page Wednesday morning an explanation on why he had to pull out of his rematch with Luke Rockhold at UFC 199. The former UFC middleweight champion admitted he could be sidelined for awhile after surgery on a herniated disc in his neck, and is targeting the November show at Madison Square Garden for his return.

His entire statement is below:

I just wanna let my fans know as many details as possible about what happened to me because I want them involved as much as possible. It’s the least I can do to give back for all the love and support I have received now and over the years.

To all the people bad-mouthing me right now, I understand it and you’re entitled to your opinion. Just wanna make sure you know this is a fight I refused to pull out of no matter what. I was never in better shape, more healthy, motivated, confident and excited for a fight in my life. I also felt I was the best fighter I have ever been and made some great improvements.

Since my high-school wrestling days, my neck, every once in a while, would get stiff. Every athlete who has been competing in any sport experiences this, but it usually goes away pretty quickly in a day or two. It never has been a real problem for me or slowed me down.

So, I recently sparred on a Thursday night and nothing drastic at all happened during sparring. After sparring, my neck was fine and our team actually discussed afterwards how good I was feeling as a fighter. The next morning, I happened to wake up with a stiff neck and with a little nerve pain in my neck and arm but figured it go away in a day or two. Like I said, I’m used to this pain. So I went on with my workouts on Friday and actually felt relatively good. It got a little more serious Friday night and Saturday …

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