UFCs Chris Weidman Is on the Road to Title Shot; Up Next Mark Munoz

Chris Weidman is 4-0 in the UFC and undefeated in his mixed martial arts career. Taking tough fights on short notice and defeating veterans of the sport has many proclaiming Weidman is MMA’s next big thing.

Coming off a hugely successful first year with the UFC, the Team Serra-Longo’s star is on the rise, and there is no end in sight.

On Tuesday, it was announced that Weidman will be the main event at the UFC on Fuel TV 4, on July 11. And he'll face another top young prospect, Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz, who is on a four-fight.

An elbow injury forced Munoz out of a fight this past January, when he faced the current UFC Middleweight No. 1 contender Chael Sonnen.

However, being called a top prospect and a future title contender comes as no surprise to Weidman. “I am honored, but I got into this sport to be the best. I am not trying to be cocky. So when people start saying I am the best I appreciate it, but I expected it," Weidman said.

A natural athlete, Weidman excelled in many sports, and growing up, he actually wanted to play professional hockey in the NHL. However, it was in wrestling that the UFC standout truly shined.

Weidman started wrestling in the second grade and wrestled at Hofstra University, where he was a two time All-American. There he earned a degree in psychology, had wrestling wins over UFC notables Phil Davis and Ryan Bader and made connections that would change the course of his life.

A friend from Hofstra University introduced Weidman to famed striking coach Ray Longo.

Shortly after, he began training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with former UFC Welterweight Champion and Renzo Gracie black belt, Matt Serra.

With his successful wrestling background, Weidman easily made the transition to BJJ, and with only three months of training, he competed in Grapplers Quest. He defeated all 13 competitors, won his weight class and the absolute division.

However, Weidman decided to stop BJJ to coach wrestling at his alma mater and prepare for the 2008 Olympics. An injury forced him to rethink his future plans.

He could continue coaching and wait until the 2012 Olympics or try his hand at MMA. Weidman thought, “I did pretty good at this Jiu-Jitsu thing, maybe I should just get into this MMA stuff.”

That’s exactly what he did. Weidman focused his energy on BJJ and MMA, and as a member of Team Serra-Longo, he also trained with the likes of John Danaher and Renzo Gracie.

In 2009, he competed in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship. With less than a year of BJJ training, the purple belt made it to the quarterfinals, and he held his own against one of the best BJJ practitioners in the world, Andre Galvao.

Under the tutelage of Longo, Weidman incorporated Muay Thai and boxing into his ever-expanding arsenal. He then quickly burst onto the local fight circuit in Atlantic City, N.J., becoming the Ring of Combat Middleweight Champion with a win by first-round TKO over Urijah Hall in his third fight.

Weidman was undefeated in Ring of Combat and got offers from both the Bellator Fighting Championships and Strikeforce promotions, but he turned them down hoping for a chance to fight in the UFC.

That chance came in early 2011 when Weidman was offered the opportunity of a lifetime. With less than three weeks notice and only four professional fights under his belt, Weidman made his UFC debut against veteran striker Alessio Sakara.

Fighting with a broken rib, Weidman earned the unanimous decision victory with his impressive takedowns and dominating ground and pound.

Weidman had only seven weeks to prepare for his next fight; however, the shortened training camp did not affect his performance. Weidman showed a noticeably improved stand-up game against Jesse Bongfeldt, but it was his impressive display of BJJ that made people take notice, including UFC President, Dana White.

At UFC 131, Weidman was awarded Submission of the Night honors for his first-round standing guillotine.

Weidman finally had a full training camp for his fight with Tom “The Filthy Mauler” Lawlor at UFC 139. Prior to the November fight, he stated, “I’m always going to be looking for the submission or the knockout.” Weidman made good on his word.

He took Lawlor down with ease, used his wrestling to control him and quickly went for the submission. Weidman finished Lawlor with a D’arce choke that left “The Filthy Mauler” out cold just two minutes into Round 1.

With two first-round submission victories in a row, Weidman solidified himself as a danger on the ground, and more importantly, he made it known he was a legitimate threat in the UFC’s middleweight division.

His next fight was not only a step up in competition, but it would prove to be one of the biggest challenges of Weidman’s young career.

Fighting on short notice was nothing new to Weidman. However, in January, he was asked to fight submission specialist Demian Maia on Fox TV on just 11 days notice. With the chance to fight a top-ranked fighter on network television, Weidman seized the opportunity.

“I believe in myself. As long as my weight got down I knew I could win,” Weidman said.

Weidman, who's roughly 215 pounds, lost 32 pounds in ten days.

“It was tough; I had a lot of weight to lose. It was not your normal weight cut. I became delirious at times but it was worth it," he said.

In addition to the grueling weight cut, Weidman was dealing with personal issues, including a death in his family. Weidman said,”It wasn’t just an easy 10 days worrying about weight cut.”

The fight lasted three rounds, and to the surprise of many critics, both fighters kept it standing and exchanged punches for the majority of the fight.

“Maia underestimated my standup and overestimated his. I was ready for him to shoot on me. But it’s hard to take me down. I’m in and out,” said Weidman.

Weidman was able to secure some takedowns and attempted to finish the fight which helped earn him the unanimous decision victory.

Although it was a less than stellar performance by both men, after that hard-fought win, no one could doubt the heart and determination of Weidman.

He believes that the experience made him a tougher person, and he said, “I know I can win, even through terrible times.” With the victory over Maia, the undefeated Weidman quickly took his rightful place amongst the top ten Middleweights in the world.

This new found fame and added pressure has not affected Weidman. He is married to his high school sweetheart and jokes, “I have a wife at home who puts me in my place and I have a child. I couldn’t change if I wanted to.”

The two are expecting their second child, a baby boy, this summer. With the attempts to make mixed martial arts mainstream and with the struggle to legalize MMA in New York, it is Weidman’s down-to-earth and easy-going personality that makes him an asset to the sport and to his community.

When fellow UFC fighter Dan Miller needed help to raise money for a kidney transplant for his young son, Weidman was one of the first members of the MMA community to step up.

Although Weidman had never even met Miller, he volunteered his time and donated items for an auction to help support the cause. Weidman said, “My heart went out to him. I’d do anything I could to help.”

Weidman still lives in his hometown of Baldwin, gets his hair cut at the same barber and still grapples with the Hofstra University wrestling team. He can still be seen at Ring of Combat events cheering on his fellow Serra-Longo teammates. Weidman said, “I have pride in where I come from, it’s made me who I am today.”

Today, the Baldwin, Long Island, native is one of the most talked about fighters in MMA, and he was named the UFC’s No. 1 Newcomer of 2011. Weidman has been training his whole life to be No. 1 and says, “I am ready to fight for that title, so whatever I have to do to get there I’m ready to do it.”

Weidman will not be satisfied with anything less, “My goal is not to be in the top ten or the top five, it’s to be number one.”

Time and time again, Chris Weidman has shown that he has the talent, work ethic and the heart to make his dream of becoming the UFC Middleweight Champion a reality. A victory over this summer against Mark Munoz will bring him one step closer to achieving his dream.

Kristen Brown is a Contributor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand.