Bruno Silva is recovering from eye injuries sustained during his fight with Chris Weidman at UFC Atlantic City, which resulted in a 30% loss of vision in one eye, and his team plans to appeal the decision with the New Jersey Athletic Control Board in hopes of overturning the loss to a no-contest.
Bruno Silva’s still on the mend. The injuries from his UFC Atlantic City fight with Chris Weidman are still healing.
He jetted back to Curitiba, Brazil, right after his bout with the ex-middleweight champ. This was in New Jersey, just last Saturday.
An ophthalmologist was next on his list. Both his eyes got poked by Weidman, and he needed to check ’em out. Silva mentioned the doc comparing his test results with previous eye exams. The verdict? A noticeable dip in vision, thanks to those eye pokes.
“Weidman got both my eyes,” Silva confessed to MMA Fighting. “The exam revealed a 30 percent vision loss in one eye.” But there’s hope. The doc doesn’t believe it’s permanent. “He thinks it’ll bounce back quickly. I’ve got another test next week.”
Initially, the fight was chalked up as a TKO win for the American. Then it got flipped to a technical decision. Why? Weidman’s finishing sequence began with clear eye pokes.
Silva’s team isn’t taking this lying down. They’re planning to appeal the decision with the New Jersey Athletic Control Board. They oversaw the event. Silva’s hoping to change the loss to a no-contest.
“The ref was weird,” Silva vented to MMA Fighting post-fight. “He messed up. Then messed up again. The least they could do is a no-contest. No way. He stuck his finger in my eye.”
Silva doesn’t think Weidman would agree to a rematch. “But a no-contest would be fair,” he added. “Let’s see what UFC does. I just want things done right, fair. I fought without any malice.”
Catch the full Bruno Silva interview on this week’s MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast.