GARDEN CITY, N.Y. -- Chris Weidman isn't your typical camp instructor. No wonder so many children were lined up to get his autograph or take a picture with him here at LAW MMA on a recent Tuesday afternoon.
It was day two of a weeklong wrestling camp featuring the former UFC middleweight champion. He's in the middle of training for a headline bout at UFC Fight Night at Nassau Coliseum on Saturday, but has still found the time to teach a few camp sessions.
"Wrestling is one of those sports that I grew up in -- I owe it so much, it got me to where I'm at," Weidman said. "So it's awesome to be able to give back to it, and help these kids out, and try to teach them as much as I can."
Weidman isn't just an instructor at the camp. He's a part-owner of the gym, along with his trainer Ray Longo -- hence the name LAW MMA (Longo and Weidman Mixed Martial Arts).
This is where Weidman does much of his training, along with several other fighters, including fellow UFC competitors Al Iaquinta and Aljamain Sterling. They work out in plain view, right beside the regular people who also use the gym.
"It's pretty cool," Weidman said. "Most of the people that come to this gym are normal people -- people who are not trying to fight, they're trying to get in shape, learning how to defend themselves. Kids are learning how to wrestle, how to do jiu-jitsu, how to kickbox. And also MMA, learning how to put it all together. We've got men, women, young kids -- all different kinds of people."
Adds Longo: "Basically it's a gym open to the public [for people] that want to train like MMA fighters, but don't necessarily want to get in the Octagon or the cage. I think that's the beauty of the gym -- they get to interact with their heroes. They see them fight on TV, and then they can be training next to them on a day-to-day basis."
As much as Weidman enjoys working with the children, he's clearly focused on his fight against Kelvin Gastelum on Saturday. Weidman is a Long Island native, and this will be the first UFC event ever staged in the area.
"Nassau Coliseum, there's nothing more special for a local kid," Weidman said. "It's definitely a dream come true.
"I grew up going to [New York] Islanders games there when I was young, and waiting outside for the players to come out and getting their autographs and everything. It's pretty cool and surreal to realize I'm going to be fighting there and people are going to be coming to watch me."
This is an important fight for Weidman for another reason, too. The 33-year-old won his first 13 professional bouts, including a second-round knockout of Anderson Silva in 2013 to become the middleweight champion. But he lost for the first time in December 2015 to Luke Rockhold, and has lost the subsequent two fights as well. Weidman is currently ranked No. 5 in the middleweight division.
"Chris obviously is an ex-champion," Longo said. "He's trying to regain that [title], and hopefully this fight is the first step in that direction."
Gastelum, 25, is 13-2, but coming off a 90-day suspension due to a positive test for marijuana in March. Weidman sounds confident he can take that first step Longo was talking about.
"I feel really good -- been working very hard, I'm in very good shape," Weidman said. "I'm very excited about the opportunity to fight a guy like Kelvin Gastelum -- tough kid, up-and-comer, a lot of people are impressed by him. It's a great opportunity for me to showcase my skills."
In the meantime, there are children to coach, at a place Weidman plans to be involved with for many years to come.
"This is my gym, and I plan on helping out here as long as I possibly can," Weidman said. "My goal is to be able to coach here at the gym, coach my kids in whatever sports they want to get into, and live happily ever after."