Chris Weidman gives first-hand account of Cris Cyborg punching Angela Magana

Chris Weidman was one of the few people who witnessed the highly publicized punch that Cris Cyborg landed on strawweight Angela Magana at the UFC Athlete Retreat back in May.

The trouble began when the fighters were getting off the buses that brought them back to the hotel after they visited the UFC’s state-of-the-art Performance Institute. Weidman and his crew, along with Magana and Bec Rawlings, ended up on a bus that was designated for Brazilian fighters.

Although there was no trouble on the journey back to the resort, Weidman noticed Cyborg making a beeline for Magana as soon as he left the bus.

“When we got off the bus, that girl, Magana, was right in front of me,” Weidman said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “As I come off the bus, all I see is Cyborg run up to Magana’s face and they’re having words. I had no idea what was going on. I didn’t know if there was any beef. … I don’t follow (Magana) on Twitter so I didn’t realize what she was saying.

“Basically, Cyborg was going nuts on her, like all the words you can think of. She was screaming ‘Who the f**k do you think you are?’ and talking like this and blah, blah, blah.

“Magana was kind of quiet and shocked. She was kind of smiling, like a nervous smile. I was thinking, ‘Oh my God’ because she’s way smaller than Cyborg.”

Weidman recalled that the intensity of the situation really escalated when Magana began to trade insults with the Brazilian featherweight.

“All of sudden (Magana) realizes what’s going on around her,” Weidman said. “She sees that there are a lot of people around and she sees cameras coming out. She grew some balls and all of sudden she starts cursing back at Cyborg. I was thinking, ‘That’s not smart.’”

Weidman felt he needed to get involved in the situation to stop anything from happening between the two fighters, but it wasn’t long before Cyborg talked him out of his potential heroics.

“As soon as I saw (Magana) cursing back at Cyborg, I realize there is no one in between them and that something is going to go down,” Weidman said. “I started trying to break it up.

“I came in like, ‘C’mon, guys, let’s calm it down,’ and as soon (as I did that) ‘Cyborg’ just stops screaming at Magana, looks at me and says, ‘Don’t touch me.’

“I was like, ‘Alright, I’m good!’”

The highly publicized shot was delivered immediately after Weidman backed away from the situation. From what he was told, Magana began to say she was going to call the police right after Cyborg connected with the shot.

“So I backed up and then within a second (Cyborg) takes her hand and cracks Magana,” Weidman said. “Magana did a little shaky leg thing and right away she got teary-eyed. At least from what I heard, right away she started to say, ‘I’m calling the cops’.

“That was the first thing and then Cyborg just jetted out.”

Cyborg ended up getting cited for misdemeanor battery by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. The case is still pending.

At the time, Weidman had no idea what led to the incident. After seeing some of the posts Magana made about Justino on social media, he can understand why the UFC featherweight contender acted in the manner that she did.

“I had no idea what was going on,” Weidman said. “I was just thinking, ‘I can’t believe she just beat the s**t out of this little girl.’

“That’s what was going through my head then, but when I saw some of the stuff she was saying to Cyborg I could understand. I don’t know why she would be saying stuff like that to Cyborg, especially if you know you could be seeing her.

“If someone was talking s**t like that about me, I’d probably have something to say to them the next time I see them and we could probably be fighting. I do see where Cyborg went with that.

“Unfortunately, in the world we live in today there are cops and lawsuits, so you can’t just punch people. You have to find other ways to resolve your issues.”

Weidman also revealed that Dana White has some footage of the fracas, which shows how swiftly he backed down after Justino gave him a piece of her mind.

“The best part of it is, Dana White has the video,” Weidman said. “He showed me at this thing (we did), but I don’t know if he’s ever going to release it. It is hysterical the way I backtracked.

“They were busting my balls but I have no shame. What am I going to do, step in there to Cyborg and say, ‘No, I will touch you’ and she kicks my ass? What am I gonna do kick her ass? Either way, I’m screwed.

“What if she knocked me out? I may as well just retire then.”