5 UFC stars whose careers were harmed by ongoing injury issues

#4. Chris Weidman – former UFC middleweight champion

Chris Weidman has suffered numerous injuries during his UFC career

Luke Rockhold’s injury issues appeared to begin after his UFC middleweight title fight with Chris Weidman. Unfortunately, Weidman’s own injury problems had already begun at that stage.

Early in his UFC career, it appeared that Weidman would have few issues with injuries. ‘The All-American’ signed with the promotion in early 2011 and reeled off five wins before the end of 2012, being forced out of just a single fight in the process.

Weidman then knocked out Anderson Silva to end his seven-year UFC middleweight title reign. When he also won a rematch with ‘The Spider’ at UFC 178, it looked like he’d be able to dominate the division going forward.

However, a knee injury forced him out of a planned title defense against Vitor Belfort. While he eventually beat Lyoto Machida instead, the Belfort fight was postponed twice more before Weidman finally defeated him at UFC 187.

At that stage, Weidman had held the UFC middleweight crown for nearly two years – but had only managed two defenses.

Worse was still to come. After losing his title to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194, Weidman was forced out of a planned rematch at UFC 199 with a back injury. He never got his chance to regain his crown.

While ‘The All-American’ has fought on seven occasions in the six years that have followed his title loss, he’s also spent lengthy stretches on the shelf – including missing almost two years of action between 2017 and 2019.

His last appearance in the UFC saw him suffer one of the promotion’s all-time worst injuries – a nasty broken leg in a fight with Uriah Hall. It’s probably safe to say that Weidman should go down as a fighter whose UFC career was unequivocally harmed by health issues.

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#3. Khabib Nurmagomedov – former UFC lightweight champion

Could Khabib Nurmagomedov have achieved even more in the UFC were it not for his injuries?

Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is widely recognized as one of the greatest fighters of all time, and that’s for good reason. ‘The Eagle’ somehow managed to remain undefeated throughout his MMA career, retiring in late 2020 with an overall record of 29-0.

However, despite defeating greats such as Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje, it’s safe to say that without injury issues, Khabib could’ve achieved so much more.

It’s interesting to note that Khabib’s reign as UFC lightweight champion saw him stay largely injury-free. After claiming the title in April 2018 by beating Al Iaquinta, he fought three times before his retirement. He may have competed more often had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to that, though, it appeared that ‘The Eagle’ was one of the UFC’s most cursed fighters.

After winning his first six fights following his UFC debut in 2012, the injuries quickly began to mount. A severe knee injury sidelined him for almost the entirety of 2014, and despite apparently being ready to return in 2015, further issues emerged and kept him on the shelf.

By the time he fought Darrell Horcher in April 2016, almost two years had passed since his previous visit to the octagon.

Even when it looked like he’d put his issues behind him, Khabib’s injury issues reared their head again. After withdrawing from a fight with Tony Ferguson at UFC 209 in March 2017, he was unable to return until that December – meaning almost another year of his career went down the pan.

Had Khabib been able to stay injury-free, it’s hard to imagine the kind of things he could’ve accomplished in the UFC. It’s perhaps not even a stretch to say that at this stage, he’d be recognized as the greatest fighter in UFC history, period.