Dana White has seen enough to know that Chris Weidman, Anthony Smith, and Clay Guida should all call it a career.
All three veterans suffered losses on Saturday night at UFC 310, and while Smith his latest performance was “probably” his final fight, neither Weidman or Guida addressed that possibility during the event. While he’s never directly forced anyone into retirement, White said he would ideally hear all three fighters make that call after two of them fell by knockout and the third suffered a first-round submission during the final UFC pay-per-view in 2024.
“They all retire tonight,” White said about what he wants from Weidman, Smith and Guida. “They should all retire tonight.”
Now White has actually said something similar about Weidman in the past, especially after he returned to action following a devastating broken leg that sidelined his career for over two years.
While Weidman got a win in his previous outing — albeit in somewhat controversial fashion following a series of eye pokes during a fight against Bruno Silva — the former middleweight champion fell by second-round knockout in his matchup with Eryk Anders on Saturday. Weidman did find some early success with a knockdown of his own but he ended up on his back in the second round with Anders just hammering away at him until the referee just couldn’t allow him to continue absorbing punishment.
The loss dropped Weidman to 1-3 in his past four fights.
Meanwhile, Smith faced an emotional battle on top of his fight against Dominick Reyes following the death of a close friend and coach just days before UFC 310. Despite his best efforts, Smith just couldn’t get any offense going and he eventually succumbed to strikes from Reyes in the second round.
Afterwards, Smith removed his gloves in the octagon but stopped short from actually announcing his retirement, although it certainly appeared he’s leaning that way.
“Probably [my last fight],” Smith said following his loss. “It’s been a long road. I want to think on it but probably.”
Finally, Guida suffered an armbar submission loss to Chase Hooper on the early prelims as the 42-year-old veteran dropped his third fight in a row and fell to 1-4 in his past five fights.
Guida always said he would keep going until the wheels fall off, but it’s unclear if White’s declaration about retirement might force his hand to decide if he wants to continue fighting or perhaps retire while still competing under the UFC banner.
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