Top UFC middleweight title contender Chris Weidman badly wants to fight Anderson SIlva for his title in July, even if “The Spider’s” camp wants to face Cung Le next.
A frustrated Weidman went off on the situation in an interview with MMA Junkie over the weekend:
‘It seems like he’s avoiding it at all costs at this point,’ Weidman said. ‘I’m a big, strong, young, athletic wrestler with good submissions. I think it’s a bad matchup for him, I think he knows that, and he’s making millions of dollars outside the cage being the undefeated UFC champion – untouchable. And if Chris Weidman, who a lot of people don’t know, goes in there and takes that away from him, it’s not good for him.’
Given Weidman‘s perfect 9-0 record and the fact that Silva’s dispensed the who’s who of the middleweight division (Chael Sonnen, Yushin Okami and Vitor Belfort are a few recent victims), Weidman vs. Silva makes sense.
However, Silva’s manager, Ed Soares, has been saying for months on end that he isn’t interested in seeing his top client fight Weidman, since he doesn’t have the name recognition necessary to promote the fight.
Weidman has been on the shelf since a definitive knockout over fellow contender Mark Munoz in July. Since then, other fighters in the title hunt such as Alan Belcher, Tim Boetsch and Michael Bisping have all lost.
“The All-American” was originally scheduled to fight Boetsch at UFC 155, but shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum nixed those plans, and Serra-Longo teammate Costa Philippou filled the void.
‘I really wanted that fight with Boetsch,’ Weidman stated. ‘I think it was a good time for me to shine, and it really just solidified the fact that I want Anderson Silva. But I think everything happens for a reason. Somehow, I’m back in this position of being No. 1 contender again with Bisping losing.’
Even though his title shot seems unlikely for the time being, Weidman has high hopes for his dream showdown with one of the sports’ pound-for-pound greats:
‘So I’m looking at July 4 weekend, Anderson Silva, and give him an immediate rematch in November at Madison Square Garden.’
Given that MMA is still not legalized in New York, the second part of Weidman‘s plans are a stretch at best, but an understandable scenario given that Weidman was born and raised in the “Big Apple.”
Silva last fought at UFC 153 in October, scoring a technical knockout over Stephan Bonnar in a one-sided light heavyweight contest.
The Brazilian last defended his middleweight strap at UFC 148 in July when he defeated Sonnen via TKO.
Will Silva vs. Weidman happen this year, or is this fight not in the cards before Anderson calls it a career?
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com