Pat Downey will be facing former MMA veteran Chris Weidman in his next Jiu-Jitsu match and it’s going down on Fury Pro Grappling 13 on May 23rd, 2025. The two men actually have a lot in common, as Downey embarked upon an MMA career of his own at one point with a pair of fights on Bellator. Weidman has spent much more time in the sport though and he continues to compete today, currently holding a 16-8 professional record that includes a run as the UFC middleweight world champion. Both men also have very strong wrestling background as well, with both of them being NCAA Division I All-Americans.
They’ve both got plenty of experience under Jiu-Jitsu rulesets over the years as well, with appearances on major promotions like Polaris, ADCC, and the Craig Jones Invitational between them. It’s very unlikely that fans will see either man pulling or even playing guard when they meet on the mats, as both of them have historically preferred to fight for the takedown and wrestle up rather than accept bottom position. Weidman eager to get a win here too, as he’s coming off a loss in his UFC career and his most recent grappling match was a decision loss to Owen Livesey at Polaris 23 two years ago.
Downey on the other hand has been much more active in the professional grappling world and most recently made it to the semi-finals of a tough bracket at the Mat Assassin Grand Prix 2025. He also competed just a few weeks before that in what was his debut for this promotion, as he finished 2024 with a decision win over Andre Petroski at Fury Pro Grappling 12. He made headlines shortly before that due to a controversial appearance at one of the biggest tournaments of the year, as he beat everyone in his blue belt division before being disqualified when a brawl broke out at the IBJJF No Gi World Championship 2025.
Fury Pro Grappling announced the news that Pat Downey would face Chris Weidman at Fury Pro Grappling 13 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
