Welcome to the first edition of another new series I’m going to be writing for Sportskeeda. This one is called MMA Origins and it’s all about looking at a successful fighter – how they began their career and how they’ve managed to rise to where they are today.
MMA is a pretty diverse sport in terms of the background of its fighters – in the past we’ve seen Brazilian jiu-jitsu artists, former college wrestling stars, Russian sambo champions and practitioners of traditional martial arts like tae-kwon-do and karate all have great success in the cage, and now we’re getting more and more fighters who actually began in MMA rather than a single discipline.
Sometimes it’s the unlikeliest of characters that rise to the top and other times it's recognised prospects that go all the way. Some come from abject poverty, others from privileged backgrounds or surprising side jobs.
This is my chance to tell their story.
I’m starting with one of the most popular fighters in the UFC today, a man who rose through the ranks to eventually dethrone arguably the greatest champion in UFC history. I’m talking of course about Chris Weidman.
The Blue Chipper
The term ‘blue chip’ is one that’s largely overused in modern sport, MMA included, but when it was used to describe Chris Weidman it wasn’t an exaggeration.
I first read about Weidman online in late 2010, not long after he won Ring of Combat’s Middleweight title. The article I read labelled him the best prospect in the world at 185lbs, and it seemed to be for good reason.
Ignoring his MMA accomplishments to that point, simply glancing at his background was jaw-dropping. Weidman was an NCAA Division I All-American wrestler out of Hofstra University, but plenty of successful collegiate wrestlers come and go in MMA.
It was the fact that he’d beaten both Phil Davis and Ryan Bader – two hulking 205lbers who were recognised amongst the best wrestlers in the UFC – in collegiate competition that raised an eyebrow for me.
Like many collegiate wrestlers, Weidman had gotten a start in MMA due to being invited to a camp to help other fighters with their wrestling game. In Weidman’s case, it was the Serra Jiu-Jitsu team. Evidently, Weidman fit right in and showed a penchant for grappling that was quite unusual. After just three months of training, he was able to win the East Coast Grappler’s Quest Absolute division, an insane accomplishment when you consider how long it takes to master an art like jiu-jitsu.
From there Weidman made the call to abandon wrestling and step into the world of MMA full-time. Training under respected coaches Matt Serra and Ray Longo, he made his professional debut in early 2009 under the Ring of Combat banner, winning two fights – one by submission, one by TKO.
Later in 2009 came another surprising accomplishment. Weidman entered into the East Coast trials for the prestigious Abu Dhabi Combat Club grappling tournament, set to take place that September in Barcelona. Weidman shocked the grappling community by tapping out respected veteran James Brasco, punching his ticket to Spain just EIGHT MONTHS after starting training.
Top MMA wrestlers had seen some success in ADCC before – Mark Kerr, for instance, had a phenomenal record there while both Tito Ortiz and Matt Hughes had also competed. They were established UFC fighters, though, while Weidman was a complete unknown. Not that it mattered.
Weidman was able to overcome Spain’s own Daniel Tabera in the opening round before facing decorated grappler Andre Galvao. And somehow he hung with Galvao – as you can see from the video below – even trapping him in a couple of choke attempts, before losing on points. It was as big a moral victory as Weidman could’ve hoped for.
It would be around a year after his adventures in Barcelona that Weidman would compete in the ROC cage again. This time he was faced with fellow prospect – and future UFC star – Uriah Hall, with the promotion’s Middleweight title on the line. At the time fans would’ve been forgiven for expecting a striker vs. grappler match, but instead – in a move eerily reminiscent of a future fight of his – Weidman caught Hall leaning back with a left hook that knocked him silly.
It was not too long after this that I read the article I mentioned earlier, but to be frank, at this point everyone was talking about Weidman. Noted MMA blog Bloody Elbow, for instance, named him as the #2 prospect in the world at Middleweight (behind Papy Abedi, remember him?) and were full of praise. That article ended with a note that it wouldn’t be too long before a big promotion came knocking. And surprisingly enough, it wasn’t the UFC.
Big Time
According to all sources, in early 2011 Weidman was literally this close to signing with Bellator. It would’ve been a two-year contract to enter into their 2011 Middleweight tournament. The formalities were basically done until Weidman’s lawyer uncle read into the contract further and found a clause that would allow Bellator to extend it by two or three years.
It was a classic shady move, classic Bjorn Rebney.
Weidman baulked on the contract, but better things were on the horizon. The UFC had their third Versus show booked for March 3rd, 2011 in Louisville, Kentucky. Maiquel Falcao was scheduled to face Alessio Sakara on the four-fight main card, and when he pulled out Rafael Natal stepped in, only to injure his knee. With just two weeks to go, Weidman got the call and accepted the fight.
Sakara was coming in on a three-fight win streak, although he hadn’t fought in a year, and on SkyBet at least, he was the betting favourite. So on the night of the event, I decided to lay some money down on Weidman, putting my faith in the couple of clips I’d seen and the word that was going around online.
I didn’t regret the bet.
Weidman dominated the Italian using his wrestling and top control game and gained 30-27 scores from all three judges. It wasn’t the most entertaining performance but Weidman had shown that he belonged in the UFC. Three months later he was back in the UFC Octagon, again as an injury replacement. This time he put Jesse Bongfeldt away with a standing guillotine choke inside one round.
Tom Lawlor was next up for Weidman, and interestingly enough he’d been in the same ADCC tournament in 2009 that had garnered Weidman so much hype. They hadn’t met there but when they clashed in the Octagon Lawlor was wildly overmatched and was dispatched with a first-round D’Arce choke.
Weidman didn’t just belong in the UFC; he was living up to all the hype he’d gotten prior to arriving.
Stepping Up
As 2012 dawned it was expected that despite his hype, the UFC would continue to bring Weidman along slowly. After all, he’d only had one fight with a full training camp behind him. That would quickly change.
The UFC’s second show on Fox was booked for January 28th and was anchored by a pair of pivotal Middleweight fights – Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz, and Demian Maia vs. Michael Bisping. Eleven days out, Munoz withdrew with a knee injury, Bisping stepped up to replace him against Sonnen and Maia was left without an opponent. The UFC called Weidman and again he accepted, except he had a slight problem.
32lbs of a problem, in fact.
Somehow, some way, Weidman cut 32lbs to make the 185lbs limit and then went in and although the fight wasn’t the best, he outworked the BJJ black belt to take a unanimous decision. Weidman had arrived in the top ten of the UFC almost as quickly as he’d managed to smash his way into the upper echelon of the grappling world.
When Munoz returned to action that summer he was matched with Weidman and – again, on SkyBet at least – he was the betting favourite. After all, he’d beaten Maia previously too and he was more proven at the top level than Weidman, with wins over Chris Leben and CB Dollaway on his ledger. And it was Weidman’s first headliner too while Munoz had main evented or co-main evented UFC cards four times before.
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Weidman thoroughly outclassed him, outwrestling the former Division I champion before knocking him out with a standing elbow early in the second round. And once again I made some money betting on him.
Less than two years into his UFC career and Weidman was calling for a title shot. And while he initially called out Anderson Silva, the Middleweight champion, he also had another title in mind.
When UFC 151’s main event went down the toilet thanks to an injury to Dan Henderson, Weidman apparently offered to take on Light-Heavyweight champion Jon Jones on late notice, but the offer was never taken seriously. Weidman said that if Jones wouldn’t take Chael Sonnen on short notice, there was no way he’d ever have considered fighting him.
That’s some serious confidence.
Weidman’s 2012 wasn’t supposed to be over with the Munoz fight. He was actually signed to fight Tim Boetsch at UFC 155 in December 2012 but withdrew due to a shoulder injury. When he came back, after initially baulking at the fight, Silva – entering into his seventh year as UFC champion – accepted a fight with him. Personally, it felt to me like Silva deciding to fight Weidman before he gained that much experience.
Immortality
Despite being a huge underdog coming in – as high as +245 in US-style odds – a lot of fellow fighters, including Georges St-Pierre and Rashad Evans, were picking Weidman to dethrone Silva, who’d looked unstoppable since beating Rich Franklin for the Middleweight title back in 2006. GSP was quoted as saying he felt like Weidman was a bad match for Silva, that his strengths were the champion’s weaknesses.
Personally, I was picking Weidman too.
My reasoning? Since Silva had won the title the theory was always that a great wrestler – people used to say Matt Lindland during the early part of Silva’s reign – would be the one to dethrone him. And sure, Chael Sonnen had come closest.
But my opinion was a little different. Silva’s chin was so strong that putting him away with ground strikes seemed nigh impossible, as did outstriking him standing. And a wrestler couldn’t hope to simply hold him down for five rounds. Sonnen had come close but Silva’s offensive weapons were so dangerous that lasting for the full 25 minutes was a horrendous challenge.
The one way to beat Silva, in my mind? It needed a wrestler good enough with strikes to set up a takedown, and good enough on the ground to tap him out. My first choice – back in 2006 – was David Terrell, but of course, the Soul Assassin could never overcome his own fragile body.
Weidman though fit the bill down to a tee.
The first round went down exactly how I’d expected; Weidman got a takedown early on and kept Silva down before going for a leglock. It didn’t work and the fighters came back to their feet, where Silva began his trademark taunting, even kissing Weidman as the round ended.
The second round has become a thing of legend.
Still “clowning”, Silva allowed Weidman to hit him and then faked being hurt. And then he attempted to lean out of the way of Weidman’s punches, Naseem Hamed-style. Only Weidman’s reach was much longer than Silva had realised and he hit with much more power than the champion could’ve expected.
Silva was knocked unconscious with the same left hook that Weidman had used to down Uriah Hall and the UFC had a new champion. Their most legendary champion had been knocked out by the kid from New York, the blue chipper.
Being the champion
Due to the nature of the first win – as well as Zuffa’s love for rematches – it was pretty clear that Weidman/Silva II was a must. Sure enough, the fight was booked just five months after their original meeting.
Again Weidman would come out on top, and again it was not in the way anyone expected. The first round again went Weidman’s way; this time he battered Silva from the clinch – one of Silva’s favoured positions – stunning him and knocking him down, although he was unable to finish him.
The ending, again coming in the second round, was even more shocking than the ending of the first fight. This time Silva threw a leg kick, Weidman checked it, and Anderson’s leg snapped like a twig.
Weidman now had two wins over the UFC’s most decorated fighter, with two of the most memorable finishes in promotional history.
His next foe was supposed to be Vitor Belfort – fresh off three stunning wins via head kick and fuelled by testosterone replacement therapy – but when TRT was taken off the menu, so was Vitor, and in stepped Lyoto Machida.
While Machida had been beaten by this point, nobody had really dominated him, not even Jon Jones. Of course, he’d never faced Chris Weidman.
Showing not only tremendous skills but also tremendous willing to follow a gameplan, Weidman pushed an absolutely torrid pace in the fight, forcing Machida to back up continuously, ensuring he could never control the distance as he usually did. He outstruck and outgrappled Machida to a clear decision. As well as proving that the Silva victories were no flukes, the win showed that Weidman was a serious champion, not a transitional one.
Injuries rear their head
If Weidman’s early UFC career was helped along by a willingness to jump in to replace injured fighters, then his later career has certainly been hindered by the opposite. Since the Machida fight, Weidman’s pulled out of three separate fights due to injuries, including postponing the inevitable Belfort fight twice, once due to a broken hand and the other with an undisclosed injury.
The Belfort fight eventually took place at UFC 187 in May 2015; Vitor managed to land a flurry on the champion but was then taken down and battered en route to a TKO stoppage. It was perhaps Weidman’s most impressive win visually, although most analysts noted that Belfort was diminished following the banning of TRT.
Next up for Weidman was Luke Rockhold in a match that hardcore fans had been salivating over for years, as both men were young, marketable and extremely talented. Rockhold had earned the shot by winning four in a row, most notably mauling Machida in even more impressive fashion than Weidman had done.
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Personally, I expected Weidman to come away with the victory again, but this time it would be different.
Firstly, Weidman came into the fight looking much smaller than he had before – likely due to a longer weight cut due to the USADA-related IV ban. Rockhold still looked massive and so for the first time in his UFC run, Weidman seemed outsized.
It didn’t seem to matter in the early going as the champ clearly took Round One. Rockhold edged Round Two and so the match seemed pretty even. Round Three was going Weidman’s way until he made one single, fatal error – probably the first he’d made in his MMA career in fact.
He threw an ill-advised wheel kick that missed by a mile and allowed Rockhold to surprise him with a takedown. And from there, Rockhold passed to full mount, using his size and skill to full advantage, and destroyed Weidman to the point where the fight could’ve been stopped.
Weidman survived the third, but had nothing left in the tank and was finally stopped with another barrage in the fourth.
Post-title reign
Due to the fact that the fight had been close until the wheel kick, and also because #1 contender Yoel Romero was facing a potential ban for a positive PED test, the UFC decided to book a rematch between Weidman and Rockhold at UFC 199 six months later.
Unfortunately, once again Weidman’s injury prone side came back to haunt him. This time he was forced out with a serious neck injury that would take surgery to fix up. He’d lost his chance to regain his title, but five months later, another exciting opportunity would emerge.
New York state had finally legalised MMA and Weidman was booked on the UFC’s inaugural card against the returning Romero, with the winner likely receiving a title shot. Weidman was full of confidence coming in and physically looked better than he had against Rockhold.
He won the first round handily, backing Romero up with his striking and even taking him down a couple of times, but after a strong start to the second, it appeared that the Cuban Olympic wrestler was taking over. Going into the third, it was clear that it was winner take all.
Weidman opened the third round with a hard body kick, but when he followed with a takedown attempt, Romero countered with a flying knee that knocked the former champion silly. Blood leaked from Weidman’s eye like a tap and he was left a broken, beaten mess.
We’re now four months removed from that fight, and Weidman is scheduled to face Gegard Mousasi next month at UFC 210, again in New York. Can he recover from his last two losses and return to form?
The future
Personally, I’m having a hard time betting against Weidman making a successful return. Despite his last two losses I’d still argue that – on paper at least – Weidman has no weaknesses. After all, the wheel kick was the pivotal moment in the Rockhold fight and who knows what could’ve happened had he not thrown it? And Romero is an athletic beast with the ability to finish anyone in a flash like he did to Weidman. Practically no other fighter is capable of such things.
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For me it comes down to two things; whether Weidman’s head is fully in the game after losing his title and taking two shocking beatings, and also whether his body is holding up after years of injuries and weight cuts.
Dave Meltzer once said that the only thing stopping Cain Velasquez from being the greatest fighter of all time was his tendency to pick up injuries. Could the same be said for Chris Weidman? Only time will tell.
From the blue chip prospect to the champion and the conqueror of legends, Chris Weidman’s had a fascinating career thus far. After a beginning that saw a relatively straight – and steep – road to the top, he’s been swerving more and more recently. How many more twists and turns are to come?
Until next time....
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