Gegard Mousasi Stops Weidman With Vicious Knees, Weidman Disgusted In Protest

Chris Weidman and Gegard Mousasi made their way down to the octagon at “UFC 210: Cormier vs. Johnson II” for their co-main event middleweight bout.

[FIGHT VIDEOS UNDER OFFICIAL FIGHT RESULT BELOW]

The middleweight division features a who’s who of killers, and anybody ranked in the top five can make their claim to be the next challenger for Michael Bisping’s middleweight championship. Whether or not they’ll fight Bisping or St-Pierre remains to be seen, but they made their claim for containership tonight.

The two touched gloves, kicking off their fight with respect. Weidman teased lunging in several times, forcing Mousasi to think twice about closing the distance. Mousasi’s speed seemed to be a real threat, as he countered in time and cut off Weidman’s attacks repeatedly.

The fake lunges paid off as Weidman was able to take Mousasi down in just over a minute. Mousasi made his way back to his feet, but almost walked right into a chokehold in the process. Weidman took Mousasi down to the mat, but Mousasi seemed to welcome the takedown this time. He kept Weidman close and prevented him from transitioning. Weidman tried to transition but the action ultimately made its way back standing.

They started exchanging bombs with just over a minute to go and they both landed. Weidman shot, trying to catch Mousasi off guard and he eventually landed a takedown with forty seconds remaining in the round. Mousasi slipped and ended up on his back with ten seconds to go, and Weidman ended the round on top.

Mousasi cracked Weidman with a left hand and he chased him toward the cage, going in for the kill. Mousasi did not let up and forced Weidman to circle around before shooting for a takedown of his own. Weidman remained pressed on the fence until the referee broke them apart to reset the action due to inactivity.

Weidman secured a takedown as soon as they made it back to the center of the octagon; Mousasi tried to push his way out but the scramble saw Weidman find his way to full mount.

Weidman postured up and Mousasi gave up his back. Weidman tried to work his way into a choke but Mousasi kept spinning and eventually gained top position before Weidman spun back to full mount! The scramble saw both men eventually get back to their feet, where an illegal knee from Mousasi called for a halt in action.

Once the replay played, however, it became clear that the knees WERE legal as Mousasi lifted his hands up off the mat. The referee should have resumed the fight right away, but gave Weidman five minutes to recover. Weidman said he could fight, and the ultimate decision was to call the fight. Doctors came in and waved the fight off!

Weidman was furious about the result and protested the stoppage during his post-fight interview.

Gegard Mousasi def. Chris Weidman by way of TKO (Knee) 3:13 of Round 2