It’s a question people have been asking since the fight was booked, but before we get into the answer, let’s first look at why people are asking.
Dennis Siver has been with the UFC for four years and has compiled a respectable record of 8-4 in the organization. The UFC’s most prominent German fighter flew under the radar of most fans, until he squared off against the UFC’s most prominent Australian fighter, George Sotiropoulos, at UFC 127.
Ironically enough, going into his fight with George most fans were asking, “Why is George Sotiropoulos fighting Dennis Siver?” Sotiropoulos was 7-0 in the UFC at the time and many wanted to see him fighting a top five opponent instead of Siver.
Dennis, not to be counted out, managed to upset George using his takedown defense and superior striking.
With that win, Siver basically usurped Sotiropoulos’ position in the lightweight division. Fans took notice of him and many were calling for him to face off against a top contender. Instead, he is facing off against Matt Wiman. Matt is a respectable fighter but not one of the division’s elite.
So, we are arrive back at our initial question: Why is Dennis Siver fighting Matt Wiman?
It’s certainly not because the fans were calling for it. As I already mentioned, fans wanted to see Siver fight one of the higher ups in the division. As for Wiman, he hasn’t really been drawing enough attention to himself to have fans trying to call his next fight.
The answer to this conundrum is relatively simple folks.
The UFC’s lightweight division is the busiest division in the company right now, so they need to keep Siver on the slow track for a bit because they can’t afford to have another top contender on their hands.
Before the merger with the WEC, the line for a title shot at lightweight was already long. Now that the WEC has been merged, the line is ridiculous.
Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar are both injured and still have to rematch, as their last fight went to a draw.
Then you have Clay Guida, who just defeated former WEC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis. Guida is now on a four-fight win streak.
Speaking of four-fight win streaks, Melvin Guillard is on one of those too. His most recent win coming over rising contender Evan Dunham.
If we’re talking about top lightweight contenders, Jim Miller has to be mentioned. He is 9-1 in the UFC and is riding a seven-fight win streak.
Miller’s next fight is going to be against Ben Henderson. If Henderson beats Miller, then he will also be in talks for a title shot.
Is your head ready to explode yet? Perhaps not, but if you were matchmaker Joe Silva, it would be.
Siver is, unfortunately, a victim of circumstance. He made some big waves by defeating George Sotiropoulos, but those waves don’t mean as much in the tsunami that is the UFC’s lightweight division.
Dennis just needs to keep his cool and keep winning fights. If he does that, his time will come.
In the meantime, Matt Wiman has a chance to do what Dennis Siver did to Sotiropoulos: pull off the upset and take Siver’s place as a rising contender in the division.
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