5 of the worst leg injuries in UFC history (VIDEO)

2. Chris Weidman - UFC 261 (April 24, 2021)

In a weird turn of events, Chris Weidman became the fighter who was at both ends of horrific leg breaks. Nearly 8 years after Anderson Silva broke a leg against him, Weidman himself snapped his own at UFC 261 opposite Uriah Hall.

Similar to Aspinall's injury, the fight could go on for a mere 17 seconds before Weidman's right leg broke with a loud crack audible above the din of the Jacksonville crowd. Weidman threw a heavy outside low kick, which Hall checked with his left knee, causing the former middleweight champion's tibia and fibula to break in half.

Weidman immediately fell to the ground, with referee Herb Dean calling a stop to the fight and declaring Hall the winner via TKO. MMA fans and experts were quick to recognize the eerie parallel between his injury and Silva's, where the same bones on the Brazilian's left leg were damaged.

As fate would have it, Anderson Silva fought his retirement bout against Uriah Hall, forever tying the three in a bond of beauty that is mixed martial arts.

Weidman was stretched out of the octagon and was transported to the hospital, where he underwent immediate surgery. In a post-surgery update, he revealed that he would not be able to walk without crutches for 8 weeks, after which he would need another 6 months to a year to fully restart training. 

The surgery was successful and he was released with a titanium rod through the tibia. The fibula, which had also broken, set itself back up when the tibia was straightened, said Weidman. 

Around three weeks after the first surgery, Weidman released footage of walking on his own and doing light training. However, the fracture did not fully heal and he had to undergo a second surgery, delaying his UFC return. This time, the fibula proved to be “more of a problem than expected”, the American said in a statement. 

He later revealed in the E60 documentary by ESPN that he feared the leg would need amputation in the worst-case scenario.

He finally returned to the octagon at UFC 292 on Aug. 19, 2023, and dropped a unanimous decision to Brad Tavares. Unfortunately, Weidman once again suffered an injury - a left tibia break this time around - in the losing effort, which forced Dana White to beg him to retire.