5 Things You Might Not Know About Chris Weidman

His back planted against the wall, Chris Weidman has endured a precipitous fall from the top.

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder finds himself on a three-fight losing streak ahead of his pivotal showdown with “The Ultimate Fighter 17” winner Kelvin Gastelum in the UFC on Fox 25 main event this Saturday at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. Once regarded as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport, Weidman has run into considerable adversity since starting his career 13-0. The 33-year-old Serra-Longo Fight Team rep has not posted a victory since he dismantled Vitor Belfort more than two years ago and last competed at UFC 210 on April 8, when he succumbed to second-round knee strikes from former Dream and Strikeforce champion Gegard Mousasi. The defeat came on the heels of back-to-back losses to Yoel Romero and Luke Rockhold, leaving many to question Weidman’s future in a division he once ruled.

As Weidman prepares to take on the talented but enigmatic Gastelum, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. His MMA success was born out of the fires of amateur wrestling.

After a standout career at Nassau Community College, Weidman went on to become a two-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, going 51-21 while twice finishing in the top 10 nationally. Two of those victories came at the expense of future Bellator MMA champions Phil Davis and Ryan Bader. Weidman was one of eight Hofstra wrestlers named to the Colonial Athletic Association’s Silver Anniversary Wrestling Team in 2009.

2. Only the best of the best have tamed him.

The three men who have beaten Weidman -- Mousasi, Romero and Rockhold -- own a cumulative record of 69-11-2 and boast 58 finishes between them.

3. He was no flash in the pan.

Weidman spent 888 days as the UFC middleweight champion and successfully defended the title on three different occasions. It stands as the second longest reign in the division’s history behind only Anderson Silva’s historic 2,457-day stay at the top.

4. Though he has enjoyed success in all phases, the “All-American” remains committed to his base.

A protégé of longtime Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Matt Serra and striking guru Ray Longo, Weidman is still a wrestler at heart. According to FightMetric, he ranks third among active UFC middleweights in takedown accuracy (50.9) and sixth in total takedowns (29).

5. He has proven to be a quick study.

Just three months after he began his formal Brazilian jiu-jitsu training, Weidman won his first Grappler’s Quest tournament -- his weight class and the absolute division -- and submitted all 13 of his opponents in doing so. He later qualified for the 2009 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, where he pushed seven-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion and eventual tournament silver medalist Andre Galvao to the limit before losing on points. Weidman went on to reach the quarterfinals in the absolute division, emerging as one of the tournament’s breakout stars.