The former UFC middleweight champion had seemed in a career freefall over the past couple years, as he lost three consecutive fights and was on the wrong end of bad finishes in all of them.
On Saturday night at UFC on FOX 25, though, Weidman turned things around.
In front of an emotional hometown crowd at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., Weidman weathered adversity and finished Kelvin Gastelum. An arm-triangle choke did the trick at 3:45 of the third round in their main event fight.
“Keep doubting me, people,” Weidman (14-3) said.