On July 6, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will look to extend his historic title defense streak to 11 when he faces Chris Weidman in the main event of UFC 162. Some believe this fight is essentially a year in the making after Weidman dispatch…
On July 6, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will look to extend his historic title defense streak to 11 when he faces Chris Weidman in the main event of UFC 162.
Some believe this fight is essentially a year in the making after Weidman dispatched Mark Munoz at UFC on Fuel in July 2012, and immediately began a campaign to land the next shot at Silva and the UFC 185-pound crown.
Silva’s camp was never ultra excited about the potential fight due to Weidman‘s relative novice status in terms of being a recognizable name in the UFC as well as his overall experience level. Weidman is 9-0 as a fighter with a perfect record in the Octagon, but still falls well short of Silva’s accolades in the UFC.
Ultimately, UFC officials decided Weidman was the best choice to face Silva next, but the champion’s camp wants one thing to be perfectly clear—Silva has never turned down a fight and didn’t plan on starting with Weidman.
“At the end of the day and I’ve always said before, Anderson is there to fight and he never turned away an opponent,” said Ed Soares, Silva’s manager, when speaking to Bleacher Report on Wednesday. “We have our opinions, people ask us our opinions, but we’ve never turned away an opponent and we never will. Anderson fights whoever the UFC puts in front of him and he always has and he always will.
“When people ask our opinion, I feel we have the right to state our opinion. It is what it is, I think it’s going to be an incredible fight. I do think Chris Weidman is definitely a tough opponent, our biggest complaint was that he wasn’t the biggest name and not well known, but I know that the UFC is going to get behind him and really make it a big promotion.”
Soares and Silva were never wrong in what they said about Weidman by referencing his status as a star in the UFC. He’s never headlined a pay-per-view or even been on the main card of a UFC pay-per-view for that matter, and has only taken part in one main event for his fight against Munoz that aired on Fuel TV.
That doesn’t change the fact that Weidman has separated himself from the rest of the middleweight division with his record and immense talent showcased every time he’s fought. Soares has no doubt that even if Weidman isn’t the most well-known name now, by the time July rolls around everybody will be well-aware of what he brings to the table.
“I’ve got to leave it in their hands,” Soares said about the UFC. “People always doubted what the UFC does and they doubted them in the Ronda Rousey fight and look what ended up happening. It was a huge success. So time and time again they prove themselves and they know what they’re doing and we’ve got to get behind them and believe this is going to be a great, huge event.”
At 37 years of age, Silva has said time and time again he wants to be part of the biggest fights possible to continue his legacy as the greatest fighter mixed martial arts has ever seen. He’s also faced the absolute best of the best throughout his career, and while Weidman wasn’t always his first choice, he’s who the UFC wanted him to fight, so they will fight.
“It has to do with trying to put the biggest fights possible together,” said Soares. “If Chris Weidman is really what everybody says he is, he would have been there in two more fights with more promotion. In our business sometimes we don’t get those luxuries. People get injured, people get hurt, people that people thought were going to win didn’t win, so this business is strategically you want to plan something and it never really goes to plan.
“You take it one at a time, one opportunity at a time, and right now Chris Weidman is the best opportunity at the time. Anderson’s going to go out there and train and put on a show like he always does. Everyone that thought he should have got a shot, now he’s getting a shot.”
Sometimes asking to face Silva and then actually fighting him becomes a clear-cut case of “be careful what you wish for,” but Weidman will finally have his chance to prove he can go with the best middleweight in the world on July 6 at UFC 162.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.
ALBANY — Chris Weidman will finally get the title shot against UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva on July 4th weekend at UFC 161 in Las Vegas, Newsday has learned. [Update: The fight will actually headline UFC 162, on July 6th. UFC 161 is the Winnipeg event that will be headlined by Barao vs. Wineland.]
UFC chief executive Lorenzo Fertitta on Wednesday told Weidman, a Baldwin native, in the Capitol building that he spoke to Silva and that he agreed to the fight.
“Dream come true,” Weidman said. “Ever since I’ve been fighting, Anderson Silva has been the champion and I’ve been visualizing beating him. Now I have the opportunity. I have to make the most of it.”
(“I…[*punch*]…HATE…[*punch*]…FRIGGIN’…[*punch*]…CLOWNS!!!” Photo via MMAWeekly)
ALBANY — Chris Weidman will finally get the title shot against UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva on July 4th weekend at UFC 161 in Las Vegas, Newsday has learned. [Update: The fight will actually headline UFC 162, on July 6th. UFC 161 is the Winnipeg event that will be headlined by Barao vs. Wineland.]
UFC chief executive Lorenzo Fertitta on Wednesday told Weidman, a Baldwin native, in the Capitol building that he spoke to Silva and that he agreed to the fight.
“Dream come true,” Weidman said. “Ever since I’ve been fighting, Anderson Silva has been the champion and I’ve been visualizing beating him. Now I have the opportunity. I have to make the most of it.”
As Newsday reports, bout agreements have yet to be signed, but getting Silva to agree to the fight was the biggest hurdle, as the Spider has tried to hold out for more lucrative fights against bigger names.
Finally, Chris Weidman is getting his fairy-tale ending. The problem is, he’ll be doing it after a long injury layoff, due to the right labrum tear he suffered in November and his subsequent surgery. (For the record, Weidman says he’s “100 percent healed” as of yesterday, and has been cleared to resume training.) Weidman hasn’t competed since his second-round destruction of Mark Munoz last July — which was thrilling at the time, but now feels like ancient history.
So, for those of you who anointed Weidman as the future of the UFC middleweight division after he KO’d Munoz, and hyped him as Anderson Silva’s worst nightmare…do you still feel the same way today?
Middleweight contender Chris Weidman has been actively lobbying for a title shot against middleweight champion Anderson Silva, and it looks like he just might get that chance.All we need now is an official UFC announcement.In advance of that usual matc…
Middleweight contender Chris Weidman has been actively lobbying for a title shot against middleweight champion Anderson Silva, and it looks like he just might get that chance.
All we need now is an official UFC announcement.
In advance of that usual matchmaking formality, Newsday Sports‘ Mark La Monica has confirmed the bout via Twitter by way of UFC chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta:
#breaking Lorenzo Fertitta just told @chrisweidmanufc in Albany that he spoke to Anderson Silva and the fight is on for July 4 weekend. — Mark La Monica (@LaMonicaMark) March 6, 2013
That report was also confirmed by MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani not long afterward, with the specific date targeted for July 6:
Confirming @lamonicamark‘s report: L. Fertitta has informed Chris Weidman that he will fight Anderson Silva for the 185-pound belt on 7/6. — Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 6, 2013
Out of a long line of potential contenders, Weidman is effectively the last man standing for Silva, despite his relatively light MMA record and recent string of injuries.
In just the past six months alone, the undefeated NCAA All-American wrestler has endured both an elbow surgery (via MMA Fighting) and a shoulder surgery (via MMA Junkie), keeping him from the Octagon for several months.
By the time Weidman steps into the Octagon to face Silva, he’ll be facing a little under a year of ring rust, while Silva will be relatively fresher after his UFC 153 bout last October.
With potential contenders Michael Bisping, Hector Lombard, VitorBelfort, ChaelSonnen, and even Rashad Evans either riding losses or seeking fights in other division, UFC president Dana White signaled just last February that Weidman was the only option left for Silva.
That also comes on the heels of failed negotiations for an Anderson Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre superfight, as both fighters’ camps couldn’tagree on a fair weight limit for the match. Instead, GSP will face Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in Montreal’s Bell Centre.
It remains unclear when or who UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will next compete against despite rumors of a potential title fight against Chris Weidman looming for July. UFC president Dana White said recently that the promotion was in the beg…
It remains unclear when or who UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will next compete against despite rumors of a potential title fight against Chris Weidman looming for July.
UFC president Dana White said recently that the promotion was in the beginning stages of negotiations to put Silva back in action against the fighter most consider to be the No. 1 contender at 185 pounds.
For the first time since those reports surfaced, Silva is commenting on the bout and how it comes much to his surprise that he’s rumored to fight anyone right now.
“Really? This is a new one for me,” Silva told UFC Tonight on Tuesday when asked about the proposed bout with Chris Weidman.
Now, Silva has been known on more than a few occasions to have fun with the media, not exactly saying what is or isn’t on his mind or what’s going on with contract or fight negotiations, so it’s likely he’s well aware of the fight against Chris Weidman.
Still, it doesn’t appear Silva is any warmer now about facing Chris Weidman than he was last year when he shot down the possible bout after looking at the New York native’s record and overall lack of UFC experience.
Silva believes a fight against Weidman is good for only one person – Chris Weidman.
“It’s good for Chris Weidman, not for me,” Silva said. “He’s a boy, he’s a kid, it’s good for Chris Weidman.”
Weidman has shouted quite loudly about his desire to face Silva in the Octagon once his surgically repaired shoulder is back to full health and he can return to action in the summer.
Is this just another classic game of cat and mouse perpetrated to perfection by Anderson Silva, or does he legitimately have no desire to face Chris Weidman?
UFC president Dana White has been dealing with Anderson Silva for many years, and he knows his champion very well. He describes everything with Silva as “a process” whether it’s for a fight or a new contract.
One point he will concede, however, is that Silva, at 37 years of age, is entering the tail end of his career and what he wants right now are the biggest fights the UFC can put him in.
“It’s always a process with Anderson Silva, but to be honest, he wants big fights,” White told UFC Tonight. “He’s 38 years old, the guy still looks and fights like he’s 25, but you don’t know how much time he has left. He wants that GSP (Georges St-Pierre) fight, he wants that Jon Jones fight and he wants big fights.”
White is confident as they continue to negotiate with Silva on a new multi-fight contract that he will eventually face Chris Weidman. Whether it happens in July or not remains to be seen.
“Anderson Silva still has to sign a new UFC contract. It’s either going to be an eight or 10-fight deal and he’s going to have to fight Chris Weidman in there somewhere,” said White.
Could this latest move by Silva just be posturing to continue building the hype for a fight against Weidman, or will he move to hopefully face someone like Jon Jones later this year instead?
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted
(“Then it’s settled: I’ll win the first fight, you’ll win the rematch, and Chael will win the rubber-match via surprise run-in after blinding the referee.”)
During our typical mid-afternoon routine of checking out Brazilian porn sites sport sites and using Google translate to help us out with comprehension — some Brazilian things don’t need translation, but some do — we stumbled across the latest vague and too-good-to-be-true Anderson Silva fight news. Recently, we had a tease about Silva finally fighting the rightful number one contender to his belt, and yesterday we read that, according to “The Spider,” he wants to face UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jonesthis year.
SportTV says that last Wednesday Anderson told a bunch of Brazilian cats that he expects to fight Jones this year in New York City but that the bout would need to be a non-title, catch-weight affair. Apparently, fighting James Irvin, Stephan Bonnar, and former champ Forrest Griffin at light-heavyweight is one thing, but fighting the biggest and best talent we’ve ever seen in the division at 205 is another.
Given that nothing appears to be signed and that Jones has the small matter of defending his belt first against wronged pizza baron Chael Sonnen this spring, we can’t get too excited about this development. Still, Anderson’s reported comments paint him as perhaps more amenable to a fight against Jones than he has ever been before.
(“Then it’s settled: I’ll win the first fight, you’ll win the rematch, and Chael will win the rubber-match via surprise run-in after blinding the referee.”)
During our typical mid-afternoon routine of checking out Brazilian porn sites sport sites and using Google translate to help us out with comprehension — some Brazilian things don’t need translation, but some do — we stumbled across the latest vague and too-good-to-be-true Anderson Silva fight news. Recently, we had a tease about Silva finally fighting the rightful number one contender to his belt, and yesterday we read that, according to “The Spider,” he wants to face UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jonesthis year.
SportTV says that last Wednesday Anderson told a bunch of Brazilian cats that he expects to fight Jones this year in New York City but that the bout would need to be a non-title, catch-weight affair. Apparently, fighting James Irvin, Stephan Bonnar, and former champ Forrest Griffin at light-heavyweight is one thing, but fighting the biggest and best talent we’ve ever seen in the division at 205 is another.
Given that nothing appears to be signed and that Jones has the small matter of defending his belt first against wronged pizza baron Chael Sonnen this spring, we can’t get too excited about this development. Still, Anderson’s reported comments paint him as perhaps more amenable to a fight against Jones than he has ever been before.
I’m willing to bet that if Silva wins his next bout, Jones wins his, Georges St. Pierre wins his, and everyone stays healthy [Ed. note: Way to jinx everybody, Elias], the middleweight champ would indeed fight one of them. Everything leading up to that — the Sam and Diane-esque “will they, won’t they?” drama of overtures and refusals — is just a way for all involved to make sure they get taken care of financially by the UFC.
What do you say, Potato Nation? Do you even have the energy to care anymore?
On July 6, UFC middleweight champion 
