After a long and accomplished career as a middleweight, former champion Chris Weidman has decided to move up a weight class. For his light heavyweight debut, he will be met by undefeated prospect Dominick Reyes, who is coming off a split decision victory over Volkan Oezdemir. As they plan for their clash at UFC on ESPN 6 in Boston, learn more about them through the numbers below.
Age, height and arm reach
At 35 years old, Weidman is about five years older than Reyes, who will be celebrating his 30th birthday on Dec. 26. Unlike other fighters his age, however, Weidman isn’t really a spent 35-year-old. He’s only had 18 professional fights. Born on June 17, 1984, he made his pro debut on Feb. 20, 2009.At 6-foot-4, Reyes is two inches taller than Weidman. However, it is the shorter Weidman who has the longer reach at 78 inches to Reyes’ 77.
Longest winning streak
Since debuting professionally on Dec. 4, 2014, Reyes has never tasted defeat. He is currently 11-0, making him a feared commodity even in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. That impressive run has spanned five different organizations, including King of the Cage, Gladiator Challenge, Hoosier Fight Club, Legacy Fighting Alliance and the UFC.Weidman went on a similar run to start his career, storming out of the gate to a 13-0 record and even capturing a UFC title. But unlike Reyes, he’s only fought for two organizations. After three fights in Ring of Combat, Weidman was signed by the UFC and has never looked anywhere else.
Octagon appearances
Five of Reyes’ 11 career wins have taken place in the Octagon. In his UFC debut, Reyes demolished Joachim Christensen in 29 seconds to take the victory and the Performance of the Night bonus. He followed that up with conquests of Jeremy Kimball, Jared Cannonier, Ovince St. Preux and Volkan Oezdemir.With 14 of his 18 professional fights having taken place in the Octagon, Weidman pretty much developed as a fighter in the UFC. He started with nine straight victories, over the course of which he took the middleweight title from Anderson Silva and successfully defended it against Silva, Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort. His UFC record now stands at 10-4.