Get to know Chris Weidman

Chris Weidman puts "Braveheart" and "The Mighty Ducks" at the top of his list of favorite movies. Quite the dichotomy, huh? The "Mighty Ducks" choice stems from his love of hockey. For a school assignment in 7th grade, Weidman said he had to write a note to himself as a senior in high school. A career goal type of thing. He wrote that he wanted to be a professional hockey player.

Chris Weidman (pictured, top) won the 189-pound New York State wrestling championship in 2002 for Baldwin High School. He won a 2-1 overtime decision on criterion over Chris Parris of North Babylon.

Chris Weidman, far left, earned All-American honors wrestling for Nassau Community College and in 2003 won the New York State collegiate wrestling championship as a freshman. In 2004, as a sophomore, Weidman finished third.

While wrestling for Hofstra, Weidman beat future UFC light heavyweight contenders Phil Davis (Penn State), shown here, and Ryan Bader (Arizona State). He was named an All-American in each of his two seasons wrestling for Hofstra.

After just a few months of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training with former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra, Chris Weidman entered the 2009 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Grappling tournament. The ADCC, or more simply known as "Abu Dhabi" in BJJ and MMA circles, is essentially the sport's equivalent of the Super Bowl. Weidman lost in the quarterfinals to Andre Galvao, a seven-time Brazilian world champion, in overtime.

“Disbelief and excitement at the same time," Chris Weidman said about the moment he learned he would become a father for the first time. "Trying to wrap my head around it was almost mind-boggling." Weidman has a daughter named Cassidy and a son named C.J.

Chris Weidman's career path toward MMA included training and attempting to make the U.S. Olympic wrestling team for the 2008 Beijing Games. He injured his ribs after placing third in a regional tournament and never made it to the Olympic trials.

Trained by Ray Longo in Garden City, Chris Weidman first rose to prominence as a fighter in Ring of Combat, a regional promotion based out of New Jersey and run by Lou Neglia of Bellmore. Weidman went 4-0 and won their middleweight title.

Chris Weidman tried out for "The Ultimate Fighter" but never made the show. Instead, he made his UFC debut on 19 days' notice and won a unanimous decision over veteran striker Alessio Sakara on March 3, 2011.

Chris Weidman lost 32 pounds in 10 days to fight Demian Maia on national television. Another short-notice fight, Weidman won by unanimous decision on the UFC on FOX main card. (Jan. 28, 2012)

Chris Weidman was chosen as one of four finalists in 2012 to represent Team Edge in their promotion with the UFC where fans can vote for the rising MMA fighter to be featured on a can of Edge Shaving Gel.