Weidman captures UFC title

When Baldwin native Chris Weidman landed a short left hook to the chin of Anderson Silva in the second round of last Saturday night’s Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, he not only put the champion on his back, he turned the mixed martial arts world on its ear with one of the more stunning upsets in the history of the sport.

In just his 10th professional MMA fight — the first nine were also victories — Weidman did the unthinkable, defeating Silva, a long-time champion riding a streak of 16 consecutive UFC victories and 10 straight title defenses.

“I never saw him on the sidelines nervous, where his energy was burned up by anxiety,” said Weidman’s former wrestling coach at Baldwin high school, Steve Shippos. “He [would] always just keep going forward, forward, forward. He was never dominated by anyone.”

In the weeks leading up to the fight, even as an underdog against the far more experienced Silva, who had 37 professional fights, including 33 victories, under his belt prior to meeting Weidman, the former Bruins all-state wrestler and standout at Hofstra University talked the talk about knocking off the champ and taking his title. And he ultimately walked the walk, doing exactly what Shippos had seen him do time and again while wearing Baldwin wrestling gear — moving forward. Weidman scored an early first-round double-leg takedown and swiftly transitioned into an attempted heel-hook submission, never hesitating despite Silva’s repeated attempts to get into his head with antics in the ring that included dropping his hands to his side and offering Weidman free shots at his chin.

“That’s just part of the warfare,” Weidman said at the post-fight press conference. “He’s trying to defeat you. It’s like any other style. It works for him. I tried not to let it get into my head. I was like, ‘I’m going to keep walking forward, walking forward, throwing my punches.’”

“[Weidman’s camp] knew that this is one of [Silva’s] tactics to try and intimidate fighters, and get Chris to lose his composure and make a mistake,” Shippos said. “Chris is not a person that’s easily discouraged by anyone.”