Chris Weidman had the benefit of a full camp for his first UFC main event on Wednesday night when he meets Mark Munoz at UFC on Fuel 4 in San Jose, Calif.
While that’s something of a rarity for the Serra-Longo Fight Team middleweight, who’s made something of a rep for fighting on short notice, he still had other things on his mind heading into the fight: Specifically, the birth of his first son, Chris Jr.
The former All-American wrestler at Hofstra, though, said that taking care of a newborn wasn’t the distraction it otherwise could be, in large part due to an understanding wife.
“I was expecting a tough three weeks leading up to the fight, but actually, my wife has been really good,” Weidman told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “She lets me sleep in the other room, and she’s up every hour breastfeeding with him, so I was able to sleep in the other room with my daughter.
“It hasn’t been the most optimal sleep, since I’m sleeping with my daughter on a twin-sized bed. But it’s a lot better than waking up every hour with lights on in the room, breastfeeding and changing diapers. With my wife, I’m really lucky that she’s really cool, and I’m able to just focus on the fight.”
With dad duties mostly on hold for now, the undefeated Weidman (8-0) is ready for a battle with Munoz (12-2), a fellow wrestler who is also also looking to make a statement in the middleweight division. In just 16 months in the UFC, Weidman has won four straight fights.
There’s a pack of middleweights clamoring for a shot at Anderson Silva’s title, and the way Weidman sees it, the best thing he can do is go out and force people to take notice.
“I’m fighting to make a statement in this fight,” he said. “It would be my fifth win in the UFC in a row, I’ve fought a lot of tough guys, veterans in this sport. I really didn’t have any easy fights, so I want to make a statement. I would love a chance against Anderson Silva, I think I really match up good against him, and I mean, I would love a shot, so we’ll see. I really just want to make a statement in this fight. I want to make it blatantly obvious that I should be the one fighting Anderson Silva. That’s the goal.”
Weidman is coming off the highest-profile fight in his career, a win over Demian Maia at January’s UFC on Fox event. Weidman took the bout on 12 days notice and needed to cut 32 pounds in that time frame. His unanimous-decision win was criticized for a lack of action, but the way Weidman sees it, getting a victory over a respected veteran was a worthwhile learning experience.
“They said it was lackluster, which I agree it was,” Weidman said. “[I had to lose] 32 pounds in 10 days. I literally, I wasn’t in shape for the fight. It was a huge risk for me, but I did it and I got the ‘W.’ A lot of guys take fights on short notice and feel like crap and lose, but at least you give it a shot. It might not have been pretty, but I got the win.”
And that win led to Wednesday’s opportunity.
“I chose this fight with Mark Munoz not because its a good matchup for me, it’s really not, but because he’s a top wrestler, he’s got power, he’s a game oppponent, he’s No. 3 in the world. He’s the worst matchup for me in the UFC. And I asked for it for a reason, to show I’m ahead of the pack. We’ll see what happens on Wednesday night.”