WEID’ OPEN: Chris Weidman, who is 9-0 in his MMA career, including a knockout of Mark Munoz last July, works out for his fight against UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva. Weidman’s father, Charlie (inset), will be in his corner. (
)
The Father’s Day card was just like any other, rife with Hallmark’s milquetoast platitudes. Charlie Weidman had to get to the end to find the real gift.
The part in pen, written by his son, Chris, wasn’t another cliché. It was a request.
For Father’s Day, Chris Weidman asked his dad to be in his corner for the biggest fight of his life. Tomorrow night, the 29-year-old from Baldwin, Long Island will take on the greatest MMA competitor ever, Anderson Silva. The bout, for the middleweight title, will be the main event of UFC 162 in Las Vegas.
“It caught me off guard,” Charlie said, “and I certainly got emotional.”
The last few years haven’t been easy for Charlie Weidman. He lost the electrical rebuilding business he owned in Long Island City, the neighborhood he grew up in, when his partner bilked him out of money. Charlie’s father had owned the company and it was passed down to Charlie and his brother.
Charlie didn’t want to talk about what happened at Double Check Electric, but Chris said “for a couple years, he was in a real tough spot.”
Things are better now. Charlie is working at Mondial Automotive in College Point as a salesman, a natural job for the charismatic, outspoken father of three. Chris wanted to reward his father for all those times he drove him to wrestling practice — beginning when he was in second grade and continuing until he was an All-American at Hofstra. Never before has Charlie been in his son’s corner, but Chris didn’t think of anyone else when his coach, former UFC champion Matt Serra, told him he wouldn’t be able to make it to Vegas.
“He was trusting me to be there for him, trusting me even with my big mouth,” Charlie said with a laugh. “To do that just shows how much he really cares about me and how much he really trusts and me, quite frankly, how much he loves me.”
Charlie has never stepped into the Octagon, where Chris is undefeated, but he is still a role model for his son. Chris, a father of two, remembers the days Charlie worked long hours at Double Check, but still managed to make time for his kids when he came home.
“I’m constantly thinking about fighting and it’s really hard to be a positive influence and have a positive attitude with your kids,” Chris said. “They get so excited to see me and then I’m like, ‘I want to take a nap.’ You have to have some energy. So I admire him, because I understand how hard that is to do and he was always able to do it. I’m still not able to do it like him.”
Chris’ opponent, Silva, has won 16 straight UFC fights and has defended his title 10 times. Both are records. He is as unbeatable as any MMA fighter ever has been. Yet both father and son know — not think — Chris will come back to Long Island with the belt.
“If I don’t win this title, it’s a complete failure in my mind,” Chris said.
To Charlie, it’s the opposite. Chris is already a champion. That’s surely what the loud dad will be shouting from outside the cage tomorrow night.
Charlie didn’t respond to Chris’ request to corner him right away. He waited a few days, let it soak in, thought about the implications. When he finally decided to do it, he called his son.
“The card is wonderful,” Charlie told him. “But I’ve always been in your corner.”
mraimondi@nypost.com