UFC 131 Fight Card Primer: Jesse Bongfeldt vs. Chris Weidman

Former TKO welterweight champion Jesse Bongfeldt (15-4-1, 0-0-1 UFC) will take on BE's # 2 middleweight prospect Chris Weidman (5-0, 1-0 UFC). Weidman was a late replacement for Court McGee. This middleweight UFC 131 bout is the first fight of the Spike TV portion of the undercard, which begins at approximately 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

How do these two stack up?

Bongfeldt: 31 years old | 6'0" | 72" reach
Weidman: 26 years old | 6'2" | 78" reach

What have these two done recently?

Bongfeldt: D - Rafael Natal (MD) | W - Nolan Clark (SUB) | W - Chris Fontaine (TKO)
Weidman: W - Alessio Sakara (UD) | W - Valdir Araujo (UD) | W - Uriah Hall (TKO)

How did these two get here?

Jesse "Water" Bongfeldt is a veteran of the Canadian circuit, fighting for over eight years. He holds wins over current UFC welterweights Sean Pierson and T.J. Grant. He stepped up on late notice to fight Rafael "Sapo" Natal at UFC 124 after Sapo's original opponent Jason MacDonald had to pull out. The fight went to a draw after Sapo won the first two rounds, but Bongfeldt dominated him in the third. He was expected to meet TUF 11 winner Court McGee on this card, but McGee pulled out and Weidman, arguably a much bigger challenge, stepped in.

Chris Weidman is a two-time NCAA Division 1 All-American in wrestling, and has shown great promise in his brief MMA career to date. In just his third pro fight, he knocked out Uriah Hall to win the Ring of Combat middleweight title. After another decision win later in the year, Weidman was brought into replace Rafael Natal (strange how all these guys are intertwined) and took on veteran Alessio Sakara at UFC on Versus 3, where won a 30-27 decision. He now steps in to replace McGee.

Why should you care?

Weidman has the pedigree to be a big presence in the middleweight division, and you don't want to be the one person that didn't see him when he was coming up, right?