UFC: This Week in New York MMA

This Saturday and next Wednesday, two Serra-Longo fighters will compete for the Ultimate Fighting championship. Constantinos Philippou (inset) will look to bump his winning streak to four when he faces Riki Fukuda on the preliminary card of UFC 148. Next week, middleweight phenom Chris Weidman takes a quantum leap from late injury replacement on a FOX show to main eventing UFC on Fuel 4. The stakes will be huge as Weidman will attempt to derail Mark Munoz, a potential challenger to the winner of UFC 148's headliner of Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen.

Since Philippou lost a three-round unanimous decision to New Jersey's Nick Catone last March, there's been no stopping the native of Limassol, Cyprus now training on Long Island. The southpaw boxer has registered three straight wins over quality opponents. His last victory was the most impressive of his career, a unanimous decision over Ultimate Fighter 11 winner Court McGee.

Weidman has bulldozed his way through the middleweight division with a 4-0 UFC record (8-0 overall). Taking a fight against Demian Maia on 10 days notice, the two-time All-American wrestler out of Hofstra University overcame exhaustion to earn a gritty win over the Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist. Munoz (12-2), however, is a 2001 NCAA Champion out of Oklahoma State and takes a four-fight win streak into the Octagon.

Follow Jon Lane on Twitter: @JonLaneNYC