UFC on FOX 2: Chris Weidman Ready for 'History in the Making'

One year ago, Chris Weidman was a name known only to the people at the Serra-Longo fight team, avid MMA fans and well-read pundits who knew that he was a serious middleweight prospect.

Now, all that has changed.

Weidman eviscerated three tough fighters in a row and is about to face his biggest test in highly skilled Brazilian grappler Demian Maia in front of millions on FOX.

An impressive victory will make the Long Island native a household name and the first of a new generation of UFC superstars who will rival the popularity of the pro wrestlers and boxers of old.

A normal man would be daunted by facing such a herculean labor on only his eighth fight, but Weidman—a guy who made it to the prestigious ADCC tournament with only one year of formal Brazilian jiu-jitsu training—is no normal man.

He's not apprehensive to take the fight against Maia on short notice; he's thrilled.

“I got the phone call from my manager; I just thought it was such a huge opportunity," Weidman said at the UFC on FOX 2 media call at which Bleacher Report was present.

However, initially, the fight wasn't scheduled to take place on FOX at all.

"At first, he told me I was probably going to be fighting in March or April and they weren’t going to put him on this next card ... And I was like, ‘Absolutely, that’s a huge opportunity,'" he said.

"Then they called back and said Maia really wanted to fight on the FOX card; he didn’t want to get taken off. 

"In the half hour between both phone calls, I became so pumped up to fight Demian Maia, that I didn’t care when it was.  So when they told me I was gonna fight in a week, I was like, ‘You know what?  Let’s do this.’"

The value of Weidman's name in lights on FOX isn't lost on the NCAA Division I All-American, who isn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"In my mind, this is truly the first FOX card … the last one was just a one-fight thing.  So this is history in the making," he said.  "I wasn’t gonna let someone else take the opportunity.

"You only live once.  Some people never have opportunities like this given to them.  Who am I to just throw it away?"

Come Saturday night, we'll see if Weidman is able to best Maia and make the best of what is, no doubt, the biggest fight of his life so far.

If victorious, Weidman will be propelled into the top 10 (or even top five) middleweights in the world—and all on free television in front of millions.

He'd be in newspapers and local news shows throughout Long Island, and become one of the first celebrities created by the marriage between the UFC and FOX.

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