(Anderson Silva and Dana White via Mommy, What Will I Look Like?)
Whether he has truly “earned it” or not yet (which is a debate that we should just stop having from here on out, because honestly), Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva is a fight that MMA fans have been clamoring for ever since Weidman beat Mark Munoz into a living death at UFC on FUEL 4 last July. At first, Silva simply ignored our advice outright. Then, in one of the most brilliantly executed circle jerks in MMA history, Silva used the media-thwarting vessel known as Ed Soares to call out Michael Bisping, then Luke Rockhold (who was still a Strikeforce fighter at the time), and finally Cung Le.
Silva’s media roundabout, budding movie career, and occasional trips to the light heavyweight division had fans questioning whether or not we’d ever see the middleweight champion return to the division he has dominated since 2006. So if you’re one for optimism, you’ll find comfort in the fact that multiple sources including Brazil’s Tatame are reporting that Silva vs. Weidman is “in the works” for a July event. Finally. However, if you’re like the rest of us, you’ll realize the futility of phrases like “in the works” or “probably coming back to the UFC” or “will get the next title shot” in regards to the UFC and just move along. Nothing to see here.
As much as it excites us to hear that Silva could be close to defending the middleweight title against anyone, doesn’t the timing of this fight seem a little…off? Again, we are not complaining here, but for starters, Weidman is coming off a shoulder surgery in December and will not have fought in a year if the fight does in fact go down in July. And while his ass-kicking of Munoz last July surely boosted his name power, a year away from this sport might as well be a decade. The Serra-Longo prodigy’s name has not exactly been on the tip of anyone’s tongue lately, and one would think that the UFC would throw Weidman a tune-up match upon his return to both re-familiarize him with fans and determine how well he was able to recover from surgery. Then again, Weidman has been calling out Silva for what feels like years now, so…
…What are we saying? Let’s just celebrate the fact that Andy kinda sorta might be fighting soon and leave it at that.