Anderson “The Spider” Silva isn’t ducking Chris Weidman.
During a press conference in Brazil for UFC 153 (via BJPenn.com), the reigning UFC middleweight champion addressed speculation that he is purposely avoiding a fight with Weidman, who is coming off dominant back-to-back wins over top-10 opponents.
“Everything has it’s [sic] time. He’ll have his opportunity to fight for the belt,” Silva said. “Maybe I fight next before he gets the shot, I lose and he fights someone else.
“We don’t know. I can fight Bonnar, lose and say: ‘you know what, I don’t want it anymore.’ Or maybe I win and say, ‘I don’t want this anymore.’ Or maybe drop to welterweight or move up to heavyweight. Anything can happen.”
In an interview on FUEL TV’s UFC Tonight, Weidman admitted that he felt like Silva’s managers were getting in the way of his title shot. He doesn’t believe Silva would purposely avoid a fight, but he does feel like Silva’s managers are trying to avoid a bad style matchup.
With Silva slated to face Stephan Bonnar at the UFC 153 main event in Brazil, Weidman took a bout with Tim Boetsch, scheduled for December 29.
Even if Silva and Weidman both walk away victorious, there is talk of a potential superfight between The Spider and UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre.
Silva seems dead set on facing St-Pierre, but the bout hinges on the outcome of St-Pierre’s upcoming fight with Carlos Condit and whether or not the welterweight champ agrees to move up in weight. GSP has consistently deflected questions from the media in regards to going up in weight to fight Silva.
Could Silva actually be considering a drop to 170 pounds for a shot at St-Pierre? And what about heavyweight?
With Lyoto Machida (allegedly good friends with Silva) still in the title mix at light heavyweight, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see Silva take a fight at heavyweight. He has already admitted he isn’t interested in facing Jon Jones.
Back in 2010, there was talk of a potential fight between Silva and former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir. In an interview with MMA:30, Mir even expressed interest in meeting Silva at a catch weight of 235 pounds.
For now, Silva’s itinerary remains a question mark.
The entire middleweight division is gunning for him, but Silva can’t please everyone. He plans on taking his career one step at a time and waiting to see how everything unfolds.
“Every UFC fighter will have their chance,” Silva said. “You have to work and wait for your opportunity…I hope that [GSP] is my next fight. I believe everybody wants to see that fight.”
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