Dana White recommends Chris Weidman retire or return to middleweight after UFC on ESPN 6

BOSTON – UFC president Dana White needs to talk about the future of Chris Weidman after the former middleweight champion suffered another defeat Friday at UFC on ESPN 6.

Weidman (14-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) lost for the fifth time in six fights when Dominick Reyes (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) derailed the former titleholder’s light heavyweight debut with a first-round TKO in the headlining bout, which took place at TD Garden.

Prior to the fight, Weidman said he felt better than ever changing weight classes for the first time. The fight didn’t go according to plan, and afterward he promised to be back better than ever. White, however, didn’t seem as enthusiastic about that notion.

“What he said tonight didn’t sound to me like he is considering retirement,” White told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at the post-event news conference. “So it’s a conversation he and I definitely need to have. This was his move up to light heavyweight, which obviously didn’t go well for him. So maybe he goes back down to middleweight or he thinks about maybe retiring.”

Weidman, 35, began his career on a 13-0 run that included a pair of championship-fight victories over Anderson Silva. His move up to 205 pounds was encouraged by a chance to dethrone another all-time great in Jon Jones, but those plans experienced a major setback.

Including the fight in which he lost UFC gold, Weidman has suffered five knockout losses in less than four years.