Former UFC champion Chris Weidman tells an incredible story of trying out for NHL team

Ryan Reaves vs Chris Weidman! Make it happen, Dana White!

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Former UFC champion Chris Weidman tells an incredible story of trying out for NHL team
MMA Junkie

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman joined MSG Network for games one and two of the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins series and told an incredible story of how he ALMOST made it to Islanders tryouts. 

Check out what Weidman had to say about the sport, his team and his aborted attempt at playing in the NHL, courtesy of SB Nation’s MMA blog The Bloody Elbow:

“I grew up playing all sports, but I fell in love with hockey early on,” Weidman said. I first started skating probably when I was 3 or 4 years old. And my goal was to be in the NHL. I remember I wrote myself a letter in 6th grade that you then get back as a senior. And I wrote in there that my goal in life and career was to be playing in the NHL and for the New York Islanders.”
“I played center, I was fast and tough,” Weidman added. “I was very physical, but I was a scorer more than anything. But I loved to check.”


So… what about the Islanders and that tryout?

“When I was deciding if I was going to do mixed martial arts, I had just tried out for the 2008 Olympics for wrestling,” Weidman said. “But I got injured before the trials and I was at a crossroads whether to start MMA or do the wrestling world teams in between and then try out for the Olympics in 2012. I had then just met an Islanders players out somewhere and it sparked a memory. I haven’t played hockey since 6th grade, but I remembered that I was really good at it.”


Uh… we were ALL good in 6th grade buddy… but go on…

“So I thought I could figure out mentally and physically how to get that back. So I said I’m going to try out for the Islanders. I bought all this hockey equipment and thought it would maybe take about 6 months until I’m ready to compete with these NHL guys. So I went down to the rink and there were a bunch of high school kids playing a pick-up game. I got on the ice with them and quickly realized it was going to take way more than 6 months to be Islanders caliber. It was a rude awakening. This is going to take awhile. So that was the end of my hockey career and then I got into fighting.”


Ah, there it is. A nice slice of humble pie. In any case, how bad ass of an enforcer would Chris Weidman be on the Islanders’ fourth line?