A rematch between newly crowned middleweight champion Chris Weidman and previous division kingpin Anderson Silva will take place December 28 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, according to UFC president Dana White.
White made the announcement on ESPN’s SportsCenter on Saturday, unveiling the main event for UFC 168. He also said the card will be co-headlined by a women’s bantamweight title fight between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate.
“I back, trust me. I back,” Silva said in a clip provided to SportsCenter.
Silva initially stated he didn’t want a rematch immediately after losing to Weidman, but it looks like it only took a week for him to change his mind.
While White didn’t predict what he thinks will happen this time around, he did mention that he does not expect a replica of their first fight at all.
“I completely expect a totally different fight this time. I don’t think he (Silva) will come out and taunt him (Weidman)…and do the things that he did. He went out and he played, and this isn’t the first time he’s done this, it’s not like this has never happened. He’s done it before and he got away with it. Chris Weidman didn’t allow it. Chris Weidman kept his composure when he was messing around with him. Weidman went right after him and ended up knocking him out…This will be the biggest fight in UFC history,” White said after being asked if Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre or Jon Jones was still a possibility.
On Friday, MMA Fighting reported that the UFC’s head honcho had narrowed down four possible locations for Weidman vs. Silva II: Dallas, New Jersey, Las Vegas and Brazil.
Silva had a 17-fight win streak broken with his loss to “The All-American.” He had been the UFC’s 185-pound titleholder since October 2006 when he knocked out then-champ Rich Franklin with ease.
Weidman is the only fighter to knock out Silva during the Brazilian’s 38-fight career, but his victory is tainted in the eyes of some fans, given how much taunting and showboating “The Spider” did during their UFC 162 encounter.
The victory boosted Weidman‘s professional MMA record to a perfect 10-0, including seven stoppage wins.
GQ Brazil initially reported that Weidman vs. Silva II was set for December 28 on Saturday, but Yahoo! Sports quickly debunked the story.
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com and contributes MMA videos to The Young Turks Sports Show.
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