Chris Weidman feels he could’ve been MMA’s GOAT but still pleased by UFC Hall of Fame nod

Chris Weidman has achieved hall of fame distinctions for his amateur wrestling as well as MMA efforts but feels like he fell short of what he ultimately wanted. Touching upon his thoughts on hearing about his UFC Hall of Fame induction and the feelings tied to that induction which will transpire in July, Weidman said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

“Oh, yeah. I was completely surprised. I had no idea. Nobody in my family knew, my coaches, my manager, nobody knew. So, there was no way that that secret was going to get back to me. They asked me and Dustin Poirier to go cage side so they could pan over to us and then promote the post-fight show. We’re like, “Okay, yeah, whatever.” Then we were like talking to each other like, “Why wouldn’t they just do this from the desk? They could do that same shot from the desk.” So thought it was a little weird.”

“I was hanging out talking to people and all of a sudden I heard my name in the arena and [Jon] Anik’s voice and I’m like why didn’t they say; I think I just heard my name. I look over at Anik. He’s like probably three feet from me and I heard Hall of Fame. I’m like, “Oh my, it’s happening. I’m getting inducted into the Hall of Fame.” It was really cool to be back in Jersey where my career started in professional mixed martial arts because MMA wasn’t legal in New York for so long.”

“All my fights prior to getting into UFC was in Jersey. So, I’d be back there around all those fans very close to where I grew up in Long Island, New York. It was really cool to get honored like that. You never know like people would introduce me as future Hall of Famer and I’m like I don’t know. Don’t jinx it, who knows, and it was never something in my mind.”

“I was always just trying to become a world champion and hold that belt as long as I could. So Hall of Fame was never something on my mind. So it’s cool to go down in history and forever I will be considered a Hall of Famer which is pretty cool.”

When responding to the perception that ‘The All-American’ seems more directionally motivated toward the next step and not resting on his laurels but also balancing the positive feelings regarding being acknowledged for the body of work he has put together, Weidman stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

“Yeah, I’ve never been the type of guy who sits back and focuses on what I’ve accomplished. Because I’m never happy, I’m always very critical of myself more than anybody else. I always want to chase that next thing. But as I got older and as I retired from MMA, I could sit back a little bit more now and think, alright, I’ve actually done some pretty cool things and I accomplished a lot.”

“As much as I accomplished, I still of course wanted more. It was the same thing in the wrestling world. I accomplished a lot but I didn’t accomplish what I wanted. So I guess you’re just never satisfied, are you? [laughs]”

Chris Weidman on the one component that kept him from achieving MMA GOAT status

When asked what he wanted to accomplish within his mixed martial arts actualization process that he felt he fell short of achieving in the end, Weidman quipped [via Bowks Talking Bouts],

“Yeah, I wanted to be; I think I had the potential of being the greatest of all time, you know? I wanted to beat the who’s who of the sport. Honestly injuries just was such an issue for me. I gained my confidence from how hard I worked and when I started having injuries, I couldn’t work as hard.”

“So, I wasn’t as confident and dealing with just like doubt. So, it’s not like I have any regrets. It’s just, if my body was able to hold together, I feel like I would have been able to accomplish more. But I’m still very grateful for everything I accomplished and stuff like that.”