Sports
Long Island's Chris Weidman Fights Dominick Reyes At UFC Boston
Weidman will make his UFC light heavyweight debut on an upcoming main event. He and his opponent, SBU grad Reyes, had some Twitter beef.
BOSTON, MA — Long Island's own Chris Weidman is slated to make his UFC light heavyweight debut when he returns to fight Dominick Reyes at UFC on ESPN2. Both men verbally agreed to the bout, and the contracts are expected to be signed soon, per ESPN. The clash is scheduled to take place Oct. 18 in Boston.
The main event pits former UFC middleweight champion Weidman (14-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC), who grew up in Baldwin and lives in Dix Hills, against undefeated light heavyweight contender Reyes (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC), a Stony Brook University graduate.
Weidman had won four UFC championship bouts from 2013 through 2015, but has fallen on hard times since, losing four of five to tough competition. He hopes a move from competing at 185 pounds to 205 will right the ship and lead to another championship run.
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Reyes has yet to taste defeat, most recently picking up a controversial split decision win over Volkan Oezdemir.
The winner of Weidman vs. Reyes could very well be close, if not in line, for a title shot against longtime UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
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However, this fight is enticing for more reasons than just the title implications. Weidman and Reyes have already gone back and forth on Twitter.
Reyes initiated it by saying he wanted to fight Jones next, but he'd be willing to prove he's the most deserving title challenger by "taking Weidman's head."
Weidman didn't take kindly to that and reminded Reyes of his tight split decision in his last bout, and said he looks forward to humbling him for the head comment. Reyes then brought up Weidman's losing stretch and said he'd have his best performance against the former middleweight champ.
Weidman responded with "I have more UFC world title belts then you have UFC finishes," telling him he'd see him in Boston. The whole exchange can be followed below.
I have more UFC world title belts then you have UfC finishes. See you in Boston, Devastator. https://t.co/sLSYgznYHy
— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) July" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/chrisweidm... 23, 2019
UFC on ESPN2 will take place at the TD Garden in Boston. Fans can watch live on ESPN2.
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