A two-time NCAA Division One All-American, Weidman had a total of 20 fights in the UFC spanning 13 years. After amassing an MMA record of 9-0, his tenth win would be his most famous as he was the man to end Anderson Silva’s seven-year reign as UFC Middleweight Champion in what is one of the biggest upsets in MMA history. Their rematch would be as memorable for more gruesome reasons as Silva would break his leg in the second round. From there, Weidman would defend the belt against Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort before losing it to Luke Rockhold in December 2015.

Following the loss to Rockhold, Weidman would be one of the public faces of the UFC when MMA was finally legalized in the state of New York (where Weidman is from), and would get to fight on the first Madison Square Garden card in November 2016. However, he would go on to lose on that night against Yoel Romero. In a cruel moment that mirrored his second fight with Silva, Weidman would break his own leg in 2021 against Uriah Hall and would miss two years of action, and upon his return, he would fight just three more times before retiring from the UFC in January 2025. With that said, Weidman is getting back to his wrestling roots as he was recently announced to be facing Colby Covington at Real American Freestyle’s RAF 09 event on May 30.