Video: Chris Weidman walking on his own just five weeks after gruesome UFC 261 broken leg
Just five weeks after suffering a gruesome broken leg, former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman is walking on his own again.
Weidman on Saturday posted a short video on his Instagram account showing him slowly walking, and with a limp, in his house.
“I’m walking on my own!” Weidman posted. “Big day baby!! Thanks for all the love and support. Inspired by you all! #recovery #walking #comeback #theallamerican #thankyouGOD”
Weidman (15-6 MMA, 11-6 UFC) threw a right kick in the opening seconds of his UFC 261 fight against Uriah Hall. Hall lifted his left leg to check the kick, and Weidman’s leg snapped instantly. He fell to the canvas in agony just 15 seconds into the fight.
In what can only be described as some of the cruelest irony in MMA history, the broken leg happened in the same way as when he defended the middleweight title in a rematch with former champ Anderson Silva in 2013. Silva threw a kick, Weidman checked it, and Silva’s leg broke in what then was one of the most gruesome injuries in MMA history. Weidman’s now rivals it.
After the break, Weidman had a succesful surgery to have a titanium rod placed through his tibia.
Not long after the surgery, Weidman said he hadn’t gotten the feeling back in his foot, meaning the nerves in his leg hadn’t recovered yet – and they may never recover.
But given Weidman’s initial assessment that he’d likely be bedridden for two months, Saturday’s short walking session no doubt seemed like cause for celebration.
Video: Chris Weidman walking on his own just five weeks after gruesome UFC 261 broken leg
