Chris Weidman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chris Weidman
Born (1984-06-17) June 17, 1984
Baldwin, New York, U.S.
Other names The All-American
Nationality American
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight 186 lb (84 kg; 13.3 st)
Division Middleweight
Reach 78.0 in (198 cm)
Fighting out of Garden City, New York
Team Serra-Longo Fight Team
Trainer Jiu-Jitsu Coach: Matt Serra
Striking Coach: Ray Longo
Rank Brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu[1]
Wrestling NCAA Division I Wrestling
Years active 2009-present
Mixed martial arts record
Total 11
Wins 11
By knockout 5
By submission 3
By decision 3
Losses 0
University Hofstra University
Nassau Community College
Notable school(s) Baldwin Senior High School
Website http://chrisweidman.com/
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Chris Weidman (born June 17, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where he is the UFC Middleweight Champion. As of January 17, 2014, he is #6 in official UFC pound-for-pound rankings [2] and ranked as the #1 middleweight in the world by Sherdog.[3]

Early life

Chris Weidman was born in Baldwin, New York, the second of three children. He has German and Irish ancestry.[4] He and his older brother were involved in numerous athletic activities. Chris started wrestling at a very young age. With his natural athleticism he mastered the sport very quickly. He attended Baldwin Senior High School on Long Island where he was a Nassau County and New York state wrestling champion. He was an All-American in Cadet Freestyle and Greco Roman.

A standout in college, he earned All-American wrestling honors twice at Nassau Community College before transferring to Hofstra. He became the first junior college wrestler in history to be a NYS Collegiate Champion. At Hofstra, he became a two-time Division I All-American, placing 3rd at the NCAA tournament his senior year. Weidman graduated from Hofstra University with a bachelor's degree in psychology.[5]

Training

Weidman met Gabriel “Monsta” Toribio while attending Hofstra who invited Weidman to come to Matt and Nick Serra's BJJ Academy to help some of the fighters with their wrestling. Weidman also took some jiu-jitsu classes and within three months he competed in and won The East Coast Grappler's Quest in his weight class and the Absolute Division with all 13 matches ending in submissions.[citation needed]

With full-time assistant coaching and graduate school at Hofstra, jiu-jitsu had to be put on hold for a while. While coaching, Weidman trained for the Olympic trials. When his dream was not attained, Weidman had to decide if he wanted to continue training for the world teams and Olympics or give MMA a shot. Toribio brought Weidman to Ray Longo's MMA Academy and introduced Weidman to Longo. With his noticeable technique and skills, Weidman was encouraged to train full-time to fight.

"For such a novice fighter to be so aggressive and technical in a pure grappling competition against one of the world's best speaks volumes to what a great MMA middleweight Chris Weidman may become."

—Jordan Breen on Chris Weidman at ADCC 2009[6]

After winning the ADCC East Coast Trials, Weidman qualified for and competed at the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship (with 1 year of formal Jiu-Jitsu training) in Barcelona[7] where he lost a quarter-final match-up to world renowned Jiu-Jitsu practitioner André Galvão.[6]

Mixed martial arts career

Ring of Combat

Weidman made his MMA debut as a professional representing Team Serra-Longo in February 2009 in Louis Neglia's Ring of Combat 23. He fought as a Middleweight against Reubem Lopes, whom he submitted quickly via kimura, at 1:35 of the first round. Two months later at Ring of Combat 24, he stopped Mike Stewart with punches in the first round.[7]

"His combination of gravity-defying throws, an ironclad base and scarily preternatural grappling skills has already made him one of North America's premier prospects."

—Tomas Rios on Chris Weidman in 2010[8]

In his third bout Weidman won the Ring of Combat middleweight title on September 24, 2010 by defeating Uriah Hall at Ring of Combat 31 via punches in the first round. Weidman defended the ROC Middleweight Championship on December 3, 2010 at Ring of Combat 33 with an impressive victory over Valdir Araujo via unanimous decision. By this point Weidman was being called "one of the most highly-touted blue chip middleweight prospects ever".[9] Weidman was offered contracts by numerous organizations,[10] but Weidman elected to wait until the UFC offered him a contract, which he quickly accepted.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Weidman made his UFC debut against Alessio Sakara on March 3, 2011, at UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann, replacing an injured Rafael Natal.[11] Weidman who took the fight on two weeks' notice and who was also nursing a rib injury,[12] won a unanimous decision, scoring a decisive 30–27 on all three judges' scorecards.[13]

Weidman faced Jesse Bongfeldt on June 11, 2011 at UFC 131, replacing an injured Court McGee.[14] Weidman defeated Bongfeldt via first round standing guillotine choke,[15] earning Submission of the Night honors.[16]

Weidman next faced Tom Lawlor on November 19, 2011 at UFC 139.[17] He won the fight via technical submission, choking Lawlor unconscious with a Brabo choke in the first round.[18]

Weidman defeated Demian Maia by unanimous decision on January 28, 2012 at UFC on Fox 2.[19] The fight was initially announced as a split decision but the judges actually scored it as a unanimous decision, clarified by UFC President Dana White in a tweet.[20] Weidman replaced Michael Bisping on eleven days' notice after Mark Muñoz was forced out of his fight with Chael Sonnen. Bisping was chosen to take Munoz's place in the co-main event.[21]

"I want Anderson Silva. Every time I've had a full training camp, I've gotten a finish. Give me a full training camp and I'd love a shot at the man, Anderson Silva. I really think I could do pretty good. So give me a shot, please."

—Chris Weidman after defeating Mark Muñoz[22]

Weidman faced Mark Muñoz on July 11, 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman.[23] Weidman dominated Munoz throughout first round using his wrestling skills. In the second round, he knocked out Munoz with a counter elbow to the forehead followed by ground and pound to a rocked Munoz, which awarded Weidman "Knockout of the Night" honors.[24] After the fight, Weidman expressed a desire to fight Anderson Silva and become the middleweight title holder.[22]

Weidman was expected to face Tim Boetsch on December 29, 2012 at UFC 155.[25] However, he pulled out of the bout due to an injury and was replaced by Constantinos Philippou.[26]

UFC Middleweight Champion

After nearly a year out of competition due to injury and Hurricane Sandy, on July 6, 2013, Weidman faced Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight title in UFC 162 before a crowd of 12,399 spectators at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.[27][28] Bookmakers rated Weidman a 2-1 underdog;[29][30] however, numerous pundits and fighters including long reigning UFC welterweight champion, Georges St-Pierre, picked Weidman to upset the long reigning UFC middleweight champion:[31][32]

“I believe it's a bad matchup for Anderson Silva. Very bad, style wise. Anderson’s weaknesses are Weidman's strengths. I’ve trained with Weidman, and his wrestling is on another level. Not only is Chris Weidman going to beat Anderson Silva, I believe he’s going to finish Anderson. I believe it's not going to last too long, this fight. This fight will shock a lot of people.”
Chris Weidman knocking out Anderson Silva at UFC 162.

As Georges St-Pierre predicted, Weidman knocked out Silva early in the second round with another "Knockout of the Night" performance to become the new UFC Middleweight Champion. In the first round, Weidman took down the champion onto the canvas to apply some solid ground-and-pound. The second round saw Silva clowning around — taunting and mocking Weidman — until he was caught and dropped by Weidman's left hook which was followed with punches to the grounded Silva — rendering him unconscious. The loss to Weidman was Silva's first in the UFC and ended his 7 year, 17 fight undefeated streak. The KO victory gave Weidman the distinction of being the first and only person to have ever knocked out Silva in a mixed martial arts match.[33] In honor of Weidman's victory, Nassau County proclaimed July seventeenth "Chris Weidman Day".[34] Mixed Martial Arts website Sherdog also declared Weidman's knockout of Anderson Silva as “Knockout of the Year” for 2013.[35]

On July 13, 2013, the UFC President, Dana White, announced that Weidman will rematch Silva for his first title defense at UFC 168.[36] Silva once again opened as the betting favorite.[37]

On December 28, 2013, Chris Weidman successfully defended his title in a rematch against Anderson Silva at UFC 168. In contrast to their first fight in UFC 162, there was no overt showboating by Silva, yet Weidman still had Silva in trouble early in the first round by dropping him — while in the clinch — with a solid right hook to the side of the head — followed by a barrage of punches that almost finished the fight. In spite of Weidman’s onslaught, Silva managed to pull guard, regain his composure and bloodied Weidman's nose with some elbows and hammer-fist punches off his back, but it was Weidman who got the better of the exchange by controlling the top position for the remainder of the round and striking Silva with the harder punches and elbows.[38] At the start of the second round, Silva attacked Weidman with a series of kicks including a heavy inside low kick that Weidman defended with a perfectly executed check — using his left knee — that snapped Silva's left fibia and tibia on contact. Silva immediately fell to the mat, screaming in agony and clutching his broken leg — forcing referee Herb Dean to stop the fight 1:16 into the second round and give Weidman the victory by TKO.[39] Tellingly, low kicks were some of Silva's most effective strikes in their first encounter, which led Weidman to focus on defending them for the rematch.

"That was the number one thing I got hit with in the first fight, so I did work a lot against guys with good kicks and was working on checking them a lot. I did think that if he's going to go that hard on kicks, as he usually does, if I catch it on my knee it could really hurt him. But it's still crazy how that happened."[40]
“My trainer, Ray Longo, actually broke a guy’s leg like that in the gym by putting the knee right on that shin when he kicked, just by following [the kick] up slowly, It’s not really going shin-to-shin, but getting your knee on the shin. I’ve done it in sparring with some hard kickers to let them know not to kick me anymore. Their legs didn’t break, but they would either take a minute to walk it off or they wouldn’t be kicking me as much. It’s something I’ve definitely been working on, thanks to Longo.”[41]

Weidman is now expected to defend his belt against Vitor Belfort at UFC 173.[42] Weidman opened as a 2-to-1 betting favorite.[43]

Personal life

On October 24, 2012, Weidman's house was severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy.[44] He subsequently volunteered to help rebuild Sandy victims' homes via the non-profit group Staten Strong. Weidman is a practicing Christian.[45] and married to Marivi,[46] with whom he has two children.[47]

Championships and accomplishments

The UFC championship belt that Weidman won on July 6, 2013

Mixed martial arts

Collegiate wrestling

Mixed martial arts record

Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 11–0 Anderson Silva TKO (leg injury) UFC 168 December 28, 2013 2 1:16 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Defended the UFC Middleweight Championship
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 10–0 Anderson Silva KO (punches) UFC 162 July 6, 2013 2 1:18 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Won the UFC Middleweight Championship; Knockout of the Night; Knockout of the Year
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 9–0 Mark Muñoz KO (elbow & punches) UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman July 11, 2012 2 1:37 San Jose, California, United States Knockout of the Night
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 8–0 Demian Maia Decision (unanimous) UFC on Fox: Evans vs. Davis January 28, 2012 3 5:00 Chicago, Illinois, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 7–0 Tom Lawlor Technical submission (d'arce choke) UFC 139 November 19, 2011 1 2:07 San Jose, California, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 6–0 Jesse Bongfeldt Submission (standing guillotine choke) UFC 131 June 11, 2011 1 4:54 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Submission of the Night
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 5–0 Alessio Sakara Decision (unanimous) UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann March 3, 2011 3 5:00 Louisville, Kentucky, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 4–0 Valdir Araujo Decision (unanimous) Ring of Combat 33 December 3, 2010 3 5:00 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Defended ROC Middleweight Championship
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 3–0 Uriah Hall TKO (punches) Ring of Combat 31 September 24, 2010 1 3:06 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Won ROC Middleweight Championship
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 2–0 Mike Stewart TKO (punches) Ring of Combat 24 April 17, 2009 1 2:38 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win 1–0 Reubem Lopes Submission (kimura) Ring of Combat 23 February 20, 2009 1 1:35 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States

See also

References

  1. ↑ Twitter. Retrieved on 2013-06-04.
  2. ↑ UFC Fighter Rankings
  3. ↑ "Sherdog's Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings". sherdog.com. January 5, 2014. 
  4. ↑ http://www.ufc.com/news/The-Chris-Weidman-Diet?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it
  5. ↑ "Chris Weidman UFC profile". UFC.com. Retrieved 2011-03-04. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Breen, Jordan (September 26, 2009). "ADCC 2009: Weidman Wows, Even in Defeat". Sherdog. Retrieved July 10, 2013. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Knapp, Brian (2009-09-25). "Sherdog Prospect Watch: Chris Weidman". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2011-03-02. 
  8. ↑ Rios, Tomas (August 27, 2010). "The Top Prospects in MMA". Sherdog.com. Retrieved July 10, 2013. 
  9. ↑ Roling, Leland (December 29, 2010). "World MMA Middleweight Scouting Report: #2 - Chris Weidman". BloodyElbow.com. Retrieved July 10, 2013. 
  10. ↑ Raimondi, Marc (May 21, 2013). "UFC top contender Weidman nearly signed with Bellator before contract flap". New York Post. Retrieved 10 July 2013. 
  11. ↑ "Newcomer Weidman likely replaces Natal, meets Sakara at UFC on Versus 3". MMAJunkie.com. 2011-02-14. Retrieved 2011-03-04. 
  12. ↑ Thomas, Luke (2 July 2013). "Ray Longo: Anderson Silva hasn't faced opponents on Chris Weidman's level". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 11 July 2013. 
  13. ↑ Knapp, Brian (2011-03-04). "Bloodied Sanchez Outpoints Kampmann". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2011-03-12. 
  14. ↑ Whitman, Mike (2011-04-05). "McGee Injured; Bongfeldt-Weidman Now Targeted for UFC 131". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2011-04-14. 
  15. ↑ Hemminger, Brian (2011-06-11). "UFC 131 results: Chris Wiedman chokes out Jesse Bongfeldt". MMAMania.com. Retrieved 2011-06-12. 
  16. ↑ Stupp, Dann (2011-06-12). "UFC 131 bonuses: Stout, Weidman, Herman and Einemo get $70,000 awards". MMAJunkie.com. Retrieved 2011-06-12. 
  17. ↑ Stupp, Dann (2011-07-16). "Tom Lawlor vs. Chris Weidman joins UFC 139 lineup". MMAJunkie.com. Retrieved 2011-07-16. 
  18. ↑ Knapp, Brian (November 19, 2011). "UFC 139 Prelims: Bader, McDonald Deliver KOs". Sherdog. Retrieved July 11, 2013. 
  19. ↑ Knapp, Brian (2012-01-28). "Evans Clinches Title Shot, Routs Davis at UFC on Fox 2". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2012-01-28. 
  20. ↑ https://twitter.com/#!/danawhite/status/163440906123485185
  21. ↑ Okamoto, Brett (2012-01-19). "Mark Munoz forced out of fight". ESPN.Go.com. Retrieved 2012-01-28. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Erickson, Matt. "Chris Weidman dominates Munoz for TKO victory". MMAJunkie.com. Retrieved 2012-07-12. 
  23. ↑ "Mark Munoz vs. Chris Weidman headlines UFC on FUEL TV 4 on July 11". mmajunkie.com. 2012-04-24. 
  24. ↑ Chiappetta, Mike (2012-07-11). "UFC on FUEL 4 Bonuses: Chris Weidman's KO Cashes In". MMAFighting.com. Retrieved 2012-07-12. 
  25. ↑ "Chris Weidman vs. Tim Boetsch slated for UFC 155 in Las Vegas". mmajunkie.com. September 7, 2012. 
  26. ↑ "Chris Weidman out at UFC 155, Constantinos Philippou now fights Tim Boetsch". mmajunkie.com. November 21, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2012. 
  27. ↑ Okamoto, Brett (July 7, 2013). "Ego and Weidman conspire against Silva". ESPN. Retrieved July 11, 2013. 
  28. ↑ Brian Hemminger (2013-03-06). "Anderson Silva vs Chris Weidman official for UFC 162 headliner on July 6 in Las Vegas". MMAmania.com. Retrieved 2013-03-06. 
  29. ↑ McCarter, Nathan. "Silva vs. Weidman Betting Odds and Final Prediction". BleacherReport.com. Bleacher Report. Retrieved 11 July 2013. 
  30. ↑ Ngo, Tom (2013-07-06). "'UFC 162: Silva vs. Weidman' Complete Betting Odds". Retrieved 2013-07-16. 
  31. ↑ Pugmire, Lance (July 2, 2013). "UFC challenger Chris Weidman vowing to stun Anderson Silva". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 July 2013. 
  32. ↑ Deibert, Dave (July 4, 2013). "UFC 162: Chris Weidman hot pick to upset Anderson Silva". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved July 11, 2013. 
  33. ↑ "Weidman Beats Silva to Win UFC Middleweight Title TITLE". AP. Retrieved July 7, 2013. 
  34. ↑ Helwani, Ariel (16 July 2013). "Nassau County to proclaim July 17 as 'Chris Weidman Day'". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 16 July 2013. 
  35. ↑ http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/1/Sherdogcoms-2013-Knockout-of-the-Year-61593
  36. ↑ Chiappetta, Mike (July 13, 2013). "Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva rematch signed for Dec. 28 in Las Vegas". MMA Fighting. Retrieved July 13, 2013. 
  37. ↑ Chiappetta, Mike (9 July 2013). "Anderson Silva opens as slight favorite in potential rematch with Chris Weidman". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 13 July 2013. 
  38. ↑ Knapp, Brian (2013-12-28). "Gruesome Leg Break Ends Anderson Silva's Bid to Reclaim Middleweight Crown at UFC 168". Retrieved 2013-12-28. 
  39. ↑ Martin, Todd (2013-12-28). "UFC 168: Live updates from Anderson Silva-Chris Weidman/Ronda Rousey-Miesha Tate card". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-12-18. 
  40. ↑ Wagenheim, Jeff (29 December 2013). "Chris Weidman TKO overshadowed by gruesome Anderson Silva injury". Sportsillustrated. Retrieved 29 December 2013. 
  41. ↑ Whitman, Mike (29 December 2013). "Chris Weidman: ‘Crazy’ UFC 168 Finish Result of Practice in Checking Low Kicks". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 29 December 2013. 
  42. ↑ Dann Stupp (2014-02-01). "Chris Weidman vs. Vitor Belfort title fight slated for UFC 173 in May". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2014-02-01. 
  43. ↑ Marrocco, Steven (3 January 2014). "Chris Weidman opens as 2-to-1 favorite over Vitor Belfort in UFC title defense". MMAJunkie.com. Retrieved 3 January 2014. 
  44. ↑ "Ryan Bader: Chris Weidman lost house to Hurricane Sandy". bloodyelbow.com. 2012-10-30. Retrieved 2012-10-30. 
  45. ↑ Weidman is a "practicing Christian"
  46. ↑ "Chris and Marivi Weidman". FabWags.com. 2013-06-01. 
  47. ↑ Weidman New York Post profile
  48. ↑ http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/2013-mma-awards-fighters-194935429--mma.html
  49. ↑ http://mmavalor.com/2013/12/31/2013-mma-valor-year-end-awards/
  50. ↑ http://mmanuts.com/news/2013-mma-awards/
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 51.2 http://mmainsider.net/13967/mmainsiders-2013-annual-awards-the-results
  52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 "Chris Weidman Wrestling Hall of Fame profile". WrestlingHallOfFame.org. Retrieved 2011-09-09. 

External links

Achievements
Preceded by
Anderson Silva		 6th UFC Middleweight Champion
July 6, 2013 – present 		Current holder
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