Tag: Chris Weidman

UFC Working on Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman for July Card

Chris Weidman’s wish may finally be coming true in July. UFC President Dana White revealed on Thursday, when speaking to reporters following the end of the UFC 157 pre-fight press conference, that the promotion has started preliminary talks to pit Weid…

Chris Weidman‘s wish may finally be coming true in July.

UFC President Dana White revealed on Thursday, when speaking to reporters following the end of the UFC 157 pre-fight press conference, that the promotion has started preliminary talks to pit Weidman against UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in July.

Now it has to be noted that the deal is not done, and nothing is signed at this stage of negotiations, but UFC officials have begun discussions between Silva and Weidman to hopefully put the fight together for later this year.

“That’s what we want, but no we don’t have it yet,” White told reporters on Thursday about ongoing negotiations for Silva vs. Weidman.   “We’ve been talking to (Anderson Silva).  It’s not done, we’ll get it done.”

Chris Weidman has made a grand amount of noise over the last eight months about getting his shot at Anderson Silva and the middleweight title.  Following his blistering win over Mark Munoz last July, Weidman seemed poised as the next contender at 185 pounds, but at the time, Silva’s camp showed little interest in him because of the extreme difference in experience between the newcomer and the incumbent champion.

Still, as other middleweight contenders fell by the wayside, Weidman‘s name stayed right in the dead center of relevancy, and he was poised to jump on the opportunity to face Silva should it arise.

Currently, Weidman is still nursing his injured shoulder that required surgery, forcing him out of his last scheduled fight against Tim Boetsch in December 2012.

It appears, however, with his shoulder on the mend and rehabilitation underway, the UFC is willing to start putting together the framework for Weidman to receive his shot at Anderson Silva in July.

Silva has been out of action since stepping up on short notice last October to help save UFC 153 in his home country of Brazil after injuries decimated the top half of the card.  The most dominant champion in UFC history obliterated light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar in the first round to get a win and once again cement his place as the greatest fighter in the world.

It looks like Silva’s next fight will be his return to middleweight, where he will try to extend his already record-shattering streak of title defenses, which currently stands at 10.

 

Damon Martin is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand, unless otherwise noted.

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Daily Dick-Tease: Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman is Apparently “In the Works” for July


(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.


(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.

–J. Jones

Report: Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman in the Works for July 6

Looks like UFC middleweight contender Chris Weidman may get his wish to fight for Anderson Silva’s belt after all. According to a report by Tatame (translation by Bloody Elbow), Silva vs. Weidman is in the works for July 6, which they confirm with…

Looks like UFC middleweight contender Chris Weidman may get his wish to fight for Anderson Silva‘s belt after all. 

According to a report by Tatame (translation by Bloody Elbow), Silva vs. Weidman is in the works for July 6, which they confirm with Dave Martin and Ed Soares, the managers of Weidman and Silva, respectively. 

The report states that Soares, who initially wanted the fight in Brazil, now seems to be pushing for the Independence Day weekend pay-per-view, which would be held in Las Vegas.

Weidman, who is a perfect 9-0 inside the cage, has stated on numerous occasions that he felt “The Spider” was ducking him, but it seems he can now no longer make that claim. 

“The All-American” last defeated fellow contender Mark Munoz in impressive fashion at UFC on FUEL TV 4 in July, knocking him out with and elbow strike and subsequent punches in the second round. 

Meanwhile, Silva has not defended his gold since UFC 148 in July, scoring a TKO win over rival Chael Sonnen. In his last bout, he easily disposed of Stephan Bonnar at UFC 153 in October, in a light heavyweight contest. 

Silva is an unblemished 16-0 under the UFC banner and hold’s the company record for successful title defenses (10). 

While Silva may have never been ducking Weidman, he was never high on his priority list, with Soares suggesting names such as Rich Franklin, Georges St-Pierre and even Cung Le as possibilities for his star client’s next opponent. 

With 185-pound staples Michael Bisping, Alan Belcher and Tim Boetsch all losing in recent months, as well as former light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans—it’s tough to argue that there are any other fights that make sense for the middleweight strap besides Silva vs. Weidman.

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VIDEO: Chris Weidman Knocks out Uriah Hall in Ring of Combat Bout in 2010

While everyone is still talking about Uriah Hall’s incredibly vicious knockout of Adam Cella from Tuesday night’s edition of The Ultimate Fighter, there was a time when Hall was the one counting lights. After going 4-0 (all finishes) and winning t…

While everyone is still talking about Uriah Hall’s incredibly vicious knockout of Adam Cella from Tuesday night’s edition of The Ultimate Fighter, there was a time when Hall was the one counting lights. 

After going 4-0 (all finishes) and winning the Ring of Combat middleweight title, Hall ran into another hot prospect: the Serra-Longo Fight Team in Long Island product Chris Weidman. 

Weidman, a two-time All-American wrestler at Hofstra University, entered the September 2010 fight 2-0 and was hungry to capture his first championship belt inside the cage. 

Early in the fight, Weidman looks confident in his striking, throwing a barrage of punching and kicks, opting for a takedown after he isn’t able to land much on the feet. 

Hall easily stuffs the takedown, but the New York native continues to press forward and push the pace. 

Eventually, Weidman’s confidence and aggression pay off, as he scores a double leg takedown against the cage. 

“Primetime” refused to stay down for long, though he did eat some ground and pound for his troubles before getting back up. 

After about a minute of a stand-up exchange that doesn’t really go anywhere, Weidman catches Hall with a nasty left hook that drops him. 

This time, Weidman is relentless with his ground and pound and about 40 seconds later, the referee calls the fight and the the future UFC title contender is crowned the Ring of Combat middleweight champion. 

Needless to say, Hall is currently a member of Team (Chael) Sonnen and is a heavy favorite to win this season of TUF. 

Bear in mind this video is taken from a fan sitting cage-side, so the quality of the footage is pretty average.

Are these two destined for a high-profile rematch in the UFC or is this fight evidence that Hall can’t handle competition from the cream of the crop? 

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Chris Weidman After Evans Loss: “Let’s Do This, Anderson”

Anderson Silva has finally run out of excuses for not fighting Chris Weidman.One by one, every obstacle standing in Weidman’s way has been eliminated from the equation.Michael Bisping, Hector Lombard, Tim Boetsch and Alan Belcher have all fallen in the…

Anderson Silva has finally run out of excuses for not fighting Chris Weidman.

One by one, every obstacle standing in Weidman‘s way has been eliminated from the equation.

Michael Bisping, Hector Lombard, Tim Boetsch and Alan Belcher have all fallen in their bid for middleweight supremacy. In a way, it feels like Weidman has been touched by the hand of fate. Even a proposed super fight between Silva and Rashad Evans couldn’t stand in the way.

At UFC 156, Evans lost a surprising unanimous decision to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Immediately after the fight, Weidman took to Twitter to once again challenge Silva for the UFC middleweight title.

Silva has expressed little interest in defending his belt against Weidman, who has been campaigning for a title shot ever since knocking out Mark Munoz in July 2012.

In an interview with CageFanatic.com, Ed Soares, Silva’s manager, was adamant about the search for marquee fights. While Weidman is a great talent, Soares feels like the 28-year-old prodigy needs more fights to build his name before granting him a UFC title shot.

Luckily for Weidman, the decision isn’t up to Silva or Soares. UFC President Dana White finally gave a definitive answer on who fans can expect to see Silva step into the Octagon against later this year:

“I would have to say yes, [Chris Weidman is next for Anderson Silva],” said White at the post-fight press conference for UFC 156. “Going into this fight anyway we wanted to wait, we wanted to see what happens, and I liked Weidman for this fight anyway, so yeah.”

The details surrounding the title bout have yet to be ironed out. Silva was hoping to return to action around April, but the date could get pushed back. Weidman is just now getting back into the swing of things after undergoing surgery on his right shoulder.

Stylistically, Weidman presents a lot of interesting challenges for Silva, but things are never quite so simple when dealing with the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Be careful what you wish for.

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UFC 156: Dana White Says ‘Yes’ on Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman Title Bout

Now that Rashad Evans has lost to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, he obviously won’t be challenging Anderson Silva next. That leaves the door wide open for Chris Weidman.During the UFC 156 post-fight press conference, Dana White confirmed that the undef…

Now that Rashad Evans has lost to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, he obviously won’t be challenging Anderson Silva next. That leaves the door wide open for Chris Weidman.

During the UFC 156 post-fight press conference, Dana White confirmed that the undefeated Weidman seems like the only contender that’s left for “The Spider” at the moment.

White further elaborated that Anderson Silva “does not care who he fights,” and will face any challenger the UFC puts forward.

In fact, while the UFC president said he wasn’t making any matches, he still answered the question quite directly, relayed by MMA Fighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti:

 

Just a matter of months ago, it seemed like Silva had his pick of fights, as middleweights Michael Bisping, Vitor Belfort, Hector Lombard, Tim Boetsch, Alan Belcher and Chris Weidman were all “in the mix” at one point or another.

But in that span of time, Bisping, Lombard, Boetsch and Belcher have all posted losses that have disrupted their respective winning streaks.

Out of all of them, Bisping has the most marketable name, but suffered a head-kick KO loss against Belfort at UFC on FX 7 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

To boot, Belfort is 3-1 since his own loss to Silva at UFC 126, also by a head-kick knockout.

However, “The Phenom” has his sights set elsewhere, as he used his last post-fight Octagon interview to call out current light heavyweight champion Jon Jones for a rematch of their UFC 152 title bout.

That effectively leaves Chris Weidman as the “last man standing” in the division, although he’s spent the last month injured since pulling out of a UFC 155 match against Boetsch (via MMA Junkie).

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