It was a night filled with upsets when the UFC landed in Long Island, New York for the first time, as hometown favorite and former middleweight champion Chris Weidman got back on track with a rousing submission victory against surging contender Kelvin Gastelum in the main event.
Despite coming into the fight as a former titleholder at 185 pounds, Weidman was going up against the odds after losing three in a row, but it appears that competing at home agrees with the Long Islander.
Weidman used a powerful wrestling attack to ground Gastelum several times through the opening two rounds as he tried to wear out the former Ultimate Fighter winner, who was giving up a lot of size after moving up from the welterweight division. To his credit, Gastelum did a good job getting back up from underneath Weidman and he even knocked the former champion down but wasn’t able to capitalize.
Finally in the third, on the strength of another takedown and ground attack, Weidman secured an arm triangle choke that put Gastelum away as he celebrated a win in front of a raucous New York audience.
Heading into the fight, Weidman was a decent underdog according to fantasy players, with only 46 percent picking him to win going up against Gastelum, who had 54 percent on his side. Ultimately, Weidman not only got the upset win, but he also earned an extra 120 points thanks to his fight with Gastelum being such a tough matchup to pick.
Visit the news tab at www.ufc.com for the full version of this recap. Damon Martin writes for UFC.
