Just got his 3rd victory last night in Ring Of Combat in Atlantic City.
A student of former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra and much-lauded striking coach Ray Longo, Weidman burst onto the scene at the 2009 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships, where he took on Brazilian jiu-jitsu demigod Andre Galvao in an instant classic.
No purple belt should be able to give Galvao a serious roll on the mats, but Weidman took him to the limit and, despite losing the spirited affair 4-0, was hailed as one of the tournament’s breakout stars. However, unlike so many grappling converts, MMA has always been the primary focus of his Brazilian jiu-jitsu training, and the same prodigious talent he shows on the mats has translated beautifully to the cage.
Weidman’s combat sports roots actually go all the way back to his collegiate wrestling days, as he was a two-time All-American at both the junior college and Div. I level; he also briefly trained for the United States Greco-Roman squad. 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.