Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman may seem like a family man now, but just seven years ago Chris Weidman fought gangsters with fellow UFC fighter Gian Villante.

Weidman recalled the situation to Champions.co:

“I was maybe 2-0 as a pro, and Villante and I were at a club with some friends, when some major juiceheads walked in. These three guys were real wannabe gangsters, wearing big chains, dressed up like pretend drug dealers or something. But they were big dudes, like 6’4,” 270, and they started stone-facing everyone, shouldering people as they took a lap to circle around the club.

Villante and I weren’t really feeling these guys, and when they walked passed our table, he slapped the biggest guy on the back and says “hey buddy, relax, have a good time tonight,” in a real sarcastic tone. “Big juicehead” was is shock that Villante would have such nerve.

He threw the punch and I just covered up. Then, I went for an underhook, and I knee picked him down to the ground. As I knee picked him, he pulled my shirt, and now he’s on his back and I’m just standing over him. Instead of throwing punches to a grounded opponent, I just started slapping him around a bit: backhand, slap across the face, backhand, into my forehand. I even gave him a noogie and just laughed; the bouncers eventually pulled me off, but everyone was laughing by now.

The embarrassment definitely got to him. He stood back up and went for an encore: same punch, instant replay, blocked punch, underhook, knee pick, noogie. This time I pulled and honked his nose, embarrassing him further, and the whole time, his big juicehead friends just watched their buddy get pummeled.

I just went up to them and said “you gotta get in your car right now, or you’re gonna get your ass beat,” and they just vanished.

I don’t get in too many situations like this any more. I have a wife and three kids, so evenings out with Villante are rare. Plus, fighting is my career at this point, so I stay away from altercations unless I get paid for them, but at least I know that wrestling is still useful in a whole number of real-life scenarios.”

Fortunately for the men, Weidman decided to go easy on the man who attempted to punch him!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/17/2017.