Chris Weidman On His Short Notice UFC Debut Win

Chris Weidman - photo courtesy of chrisweidman.com

Chris Weidman shines in UFC debut.

With a little over two weeks out, Chris Weidman got a call from UFC matchmaker Joe Silva to take a fight on short notice against Alessio Sakara.

To the 26-year old New Yorker, the decision was a no brainer.

“This fight was such a huge opportunity for me. It was short notice, two and a half weeks. I had an injury that I was dealing with but when the UFC calls you, you don’t turn them down,” said Weidman.

Making his UFC debut, Weidman had the typical butterflies in his stomach that most fighters feel their first time in the famed Octagon.

“I just felt in the first round, in the beginning, I was definitely a little stiff out there, so probably a little nervous with UFC jitters,” said the Serra-Longo trained fighter. “It took a little bit of time to get over that.”

All things considered, Weidman was pleased with his “UFC on Versus 3” winning performance over the UFC veteran.

“The stand up felt pretty good once I got relaxed, and on the ground I look forward to being a lot more aggressive, and also with my wrestling. When I get more confidence in my cardio, when I have a full camp, you’ll see a little bit of difference down there,” he said.

Weidman gave credit for his short notice win to his coaches, specifically Ray Longo.

“I really just put this fight in Ray Longo’s total control. If it was me, the day I found out about the fight I’m going and I’m wrestling as hard as I can, sparring as hard as I can. To tell you the truth, for this fight, I did zero wrestling and zero sparring because I didn’t want to hurt my injury anymore – just to get in shape and work cardio, and that was pretty much it.”

Weidman is someone we all might want to keep an eye on.