UFC On ESPN 6: Chris Weidman Needs To Make A Statement

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman will make his light heavyweight debut this Friday night at UFC on ESPN 6 against Dominick Reyes.

And “The All American” need to make a splash.

Reyes vs. Weidman headlines the card from the TD Garden in Boston, with both the main and prelim cards airing live on ESPN2.

Dominick Reyes, Chris Weidman On NESN Together

For Weidman, this represents a way to wipe clean the ugly slate he left over the last four years at middleweight. After winning his first 13 pro fights, including title defenses over Vitor Belfort, Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva after his stunning 2013 knockout of Silva, the wheels fell off the bus.

Jon Jones Watches Chris Weidman-Anderson Silva Live

Weidman was finished in the fourth round at the hands of Luke Rockhold, lost via third round knockout to Yoel Romero and was finished by Gegard Mousasi in the second in consecutive fights between 2015-17.

He finally got back into the win column in the summer of 2017 by submitting Kelvin Gastelum, but was quickly brought back down last November when he dropped a war with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.

After all of that, Weidman decided he needed to make a change, and the best way to go about that was by bumping up to light heavyweight.

Chris Weidman After Finishing Vitor Belfort

For the most part, the same skills that helped Weidman go 13-0 and claim the UFC middleweight title should benefit him at his new weight class. He was a two-time All-American wrestler at the NCAA Div. I level while at Hofstra University after earning NJCAA All-American honors twice on the mats.

The 35-year-old New York native continues to train with greatness at Serra-Longo Fight Team, Renzo Gracie Academy and Ricardo Almeida BJJ, gaining instruction from Matt Serra, John Danaher, Ray Longo and Mark Henry.

Remember The Name: Dominick Reyes

He will need all of that against Reyes, who is a perfect 11-0 with UFC victories over Volkan Oezdemir, Ovince Saint Preux, Jared Cannonier, Jeremy Kimball and Joachim Christensen. He made his Octagon debut in 2017 after wins for Legacy Fighting Alliance, Hoosier Fight Club and King of the Cage.

UFC On ESPN 6: Reyes Vs. Weidman

MAIN CARD (ESPN2)

Light Heavyweight: Dominick Reyes vs. Chris Weidman

Featherweight: Yair Rodriguez vs. Jeremy Stephens

Heavyweight: Greg Hardy vs. Ben Sosoli

Lightweight: Joe Lauzon vs. Jonathan Pierce

Female Flyweight: Maycee Barber vs. Gillian Robertson

Middleweight: Deron Winn vs. Darren Stewart

PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN2)

Featherweight: Charles Rosa vs. Manny Bermudez

Female Flyweight: Molly McCann vs. Diana Belbita

Featherweight: Kyle Bochniak vs. Sean Woodson

Bantamweight: Randy Costa vs. Boston Salmon

Welterweight: Court McGee vs. Sean Brady

Heavyweight: Daniel Spitz vs. Tanner Boser