Opinion: How to Dodge a Bullet With a Busted Neck

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.Chris Weidman is an outstanding fighter with a serious history of injuries, so it may seem thoughtless to suggest that his latest training trauma is any way beneficial. So, naturally, that’s exactly what I’m going to suggest. Admittedly, the injury that forced Weidman to pull out of his UFC 199 main event against Luke Rockhold is severe. A hernia in your neck that leaves you with hardcore vertigo, results in constant pain and screws up the nerves in one of your arms is no joke. Weidman carried the injury through training while popping painkillers and receiving epidurals until it became clear that surgery was absolutely necessary, nixing the Rockhold rematch. Weidman turns 32 in less than a month and the former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder has now pulled out of four scheduled fights in the last two years due to a variety of injuries, from broken hands, busted knees that required double surgery and, now, a nasty cervical-nerve issue. On top of that, it hasn’t even been six months since Rockhold absolutely pulverized him for the title. If he carried this injury into the fight, it probably would’ve turned into a disaster; pulling out was mandatory for the health of his career, and it’s borderline lunacy that Weidman wanted to try to push through. If we’re going to run back Rockhold-Weidman, they both need to be healthy. (Morbid note: Don’t look now, but there are still two weeks for Rockhold to get hurt.) Here’s the truth: No one other than the UFC and Weidman wanted to run this back immediately. Immediate rematches are always a hot topic, and as a concept, they tend to produce passionate, polarized opinions. In this case, I was surprised how unanimously unimpressed the MMA community was when the rematch was announced. After it was official, any discussion I saw or heard of UFC middleweight title contention was either “When is Yoel Romero back?” “‘Jacare’ got ripped off against Romero, so why isn’t he the one getting the Rockhold rematch?” or “Michael Bisping beat Anderson Silva, so it should be him.” Most people, myself included, basically wanted anything other than an immediate rematch. There are certain criteria that seem to govern how MMA folks feel about a potential immediate rematch. These include but are not limited to the following: Was their prior fight entertaining? Was it competitive? Was it close? Was it controversial in some way? Was it an upset? Was the outcome fluky? Is there an especially deserved challenger on deck who will be frozen out if there’s an immediate rematch? Was it a title fight, and if so, was a champion dethroned? If yes, was his or her reign lengthy or legendary? Is a rematch considerably more lucrative than other available options? Does the fight involve Frankie Edgar? This is why everyone rolled their eyes when Fabricio Werdum suggested he should get an immediate rematch against Stipe Miocic after he got completely embarrassed and face-planted at UFC 198. Take the welterweight title picture, for instance. Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit did the damn thing and had the “Fight of the Year” two days into January, but you had a wide array of opinions about what should happen next. Tons of people scored the fight for Condit and thought he got hosed, necessitating a do-over. Some people wanted a redo of Lawler-Rory MacDonald. Some sadists, like the UFC apparently, preferred Tyron Woodley. The alchemy isn’t always the same in all these situations, and in a case like this, a plurality of justifiable contenders and the desire to see fresh matchups created a more diverse and passionate array of opinions despite Lawler-Condit being so violent, so …

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