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Chris Weidman: Silva Deserved Fine, I’m Doing Most of the Promotional Work

Chris Weidman takes no offense to Anderson Silva coasting on promotional duties for UFC 162, but there are certain appointments that even the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world must uphold.In May, UFC President Dana White fined Silva $50,000 for …

Chris Weidman takes no offense to Anderson Silva coasting on promotional duties for UFC 162, but there are certain appointments that even the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world must uphold.

In May, UFC President Dana White fined Silva $50,000 for missing a planned media event serving as promotion for UFC 162, which is scheduled for Fourth of July weekend, on July 6.

Silva told Brazilian media outlet Veja—via MMAjunkie.com—that he was completely unaware of the media day. He reinforced his excuse by mentioning that he has never missed any commitment with the UFC and his media schedule was blocked so he could focus on training for Weidman.

During an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Weidman was asked whether or not Silva deserved to be fined for missing the scheduled event. Weidman refused to say anything negative about his upcoming opponent, but he certainly didn’t shy away from his opinion regarding the promotional work being put into UFC 162:

It’s all good. He got fined and that sucks for him. It was definitely fair. It’s part of his job to do the media, especially since it was setup and they spent a lot of money. Oh yeah, I’m sure [I’ve had to do more media than Silva leading up to the fight].

Weidman has emerged as a bold, young contender capable of dethroning arguably the greatest fighter in MMA history.

Fans often underestimate how big of a fight this is for Weidman. A win would make him an instant star in the sport, and his name would be forever etched in UFC history. The media attention is new for Weidman, and he is soaking it all in and enjoying every moment of it.

Silva, on the other hand, has been on this rodeo more times than you could count on two hands. He has completely dominated every legend and top contender placed in front of him.

While Weidman agrees with the fine, he won’t hold it against Silva for flaking on the media
promotion:

I’m the challenger, and this guy has been doing this for I don’t know how long. You can tell me, 11 title defenses or something like that? I don’t know. So he’s done a lot of media in his time, and he’s probably a little more sick of it than I am. So I have no problem picking up the tab.

If he manages to knock off Silva, all of the extra media work will have paid off big time for Weidman, who would quickly become one of the UFC’s biggest stars. Unfortunately, a loss would only validate the one thought on the minds of most fans:

Weidman is just another opponent not worth Silva’s time.

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Anderson Silva on How His 10-Fight UFC Contract Came to Be

Anderson Silva, the man widely regarded as the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the world, apparently only asked for four fights on his new UFC contract, before he signed a 10-fight deal. Silva made the revelation in a recent interview with MMA Junk…

Anderson Silva, the man widely regarded as the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the world, apparently only asked for four fights on his new UFC contract, before he signed a 10-fight deal.

Silva made the revelation in a recent interview with MMA Junkie in which the 38-year-old said he hopes he still has the willpower to see out the new contract.

“I wanted to do four more fights, and they said eight, so I said, ‘Whatever. Let’s do eight, 10. Let’s do however many fights you want,’” Silva told MMA Junkie. “They got on that ride and offered me 10 fights, and that’s what I signed.”

Since his UFC debut in 2006, Silva has gone on to break all the most notable records in the promotion, including most all-time knockdowns, most significant strike accuracy, longest all-time UFC win streak, most title fight victories, most UFC title defences and longest title reign in days.

How much longer the veteran can go on at this point in his career is still anybody’s guess.

He’s due to face Chris Weidman, a man a decade younger than him, in his next fight scheduled for July 6 at UFC 162. The Brazilian has opened as a small odds-on-favourite, but many, including the No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Georges St. Pierre, believe that Weidman could be the toughest test in Silva’s entire career.

Win or lose that match, the options for “The Spider” are limited. In the middleweight division, aside from Weidman, a rematch against Vitor Belfort, who’s been knocking out contenders left and right, could be a tantalising grudge match between the two biggest names in Brazilian MMA.

And then, of course, there’s the much-talked-about superfights with light heavyweight champion Jon Jones or GSP.

But after that, whether Silva will have any motivation to see out a 10-fight contract is something that not even he can be sure of.

“It all depends,” Silva said in the MMA Junkie interview. “Ten fights is about six years, so we’ll see what happens in the meantime. I hope that I’m still inspired and that I still have the willpower and the desire to go out there and fight. But I’m happy.

“I’m well-treated by Dana and Lorenzo (Fertitta) and everyone in the UFC, and I hope to continue having this desire to fight and go in there and train. But it’s a matter of time. We have to go in there and see what’s going to happen in the next few years.”

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Five Reasons UFC 162 Will Be More Exciting Than UFC 161

While UFC 161: Henderson vs Evans is just around the corner, the event pales in comparison to the power-packed potential for excitement possessed by UFC 162: Silva vs Weidman. The latter event’s current lineup is not only stronger, but holds more poten…

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UFC 162: Rafaello Oliveira Replaces John Makdessi, Meets Edson Barboza

An injury has spoiled what was expected to be a highly entertaining striking matchup between Edson Barboza and John Makdessi at UFC 162 in Las Vegas.According to MMAJunkie.com, with Makdessi out of that bout, Barboza will now meet fellow Brazilian Rafa…

An injury has spoiled what was expected to be a highly entertaining striking matchup between Edson Barboza and John Makdessi at UFC 162 in Las Vegas.

According to MMAJunkie.com, with Makdessi out of that bout, Barboza will now meet fellow Brazilian Rafaello Oliveira, who has not competed since beating Yoislandy Izquierdo in July 2012. Oliveira had been scheduled for a bout with Michael Chiesa at UFC on Fox 5, but an injury has kept him out of action since then.

Coming off of back-to-back wins, Makdessi would have had an opportunity to move to 2-0 in 2013 had he not been injured, and doing so against Barboza would have put him in position to campaign for a fight with a highly ranked 155-pound opponent. Instead, he now finds himself on the shelf for an unspecified length of time.

Assuming he does meet Oliveira at UFC 162, this will be the third straight time Barboza has met an opponent whom he was not originally booked against. The Brazilian suffered his first UFC loss against replacement foe Jamie Varner after an Evan Dunham injury, and he recently picked up a win over Lucas Martins despite being initially slated to meet Justin Salas.

With a 1-2 UFC record, Oliveira is likely to be a significant underdog in this matchup with Barboza. Oliveira was stopped by a head kick from Yves Edwards, and Barboza is a much younger and arguably more dangerous striker than Edwards.

A victory over Oliveira wouldn’t do much for Barboza in terms of rankings, but an impressive one would give him back-to-back wins and enough momentum for a big step up in competition.

Headlined by a middleweight title fight between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman, UFC 162 will be held on July 6 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Barboza and Oliveira are expected to meet on the FX prelims of that fight card.

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[UPDATED] Booking Alert: McGregor Faces Ogle in Boston, Gonzaga Fills in Against Herman at UFC 162, Brown Un-retires to fight Corassani

(A throwback, Conor McGregor got all dressed up for the announcement)

The UFC made a couple fight booking announcements late this week. In a featherweight contest, brash KO Irish artist Conor McGregor will face Brit Andy Ogle in Boston on the UFC on Fox Sports 1 card, August 17th. Gabriel Gonzaga is replacing the injured Shane Del Rosario against Dave Herman on the UFC 162 card, July 6th in Las Vegas.

McGregor recently made a stunning UFC debut, knocking Marcus Brimage out at UFC on Fuel TV 9 and earning KO of the night honors. “The Little Axe” Ogle is coming off of his biggest career win to date – a unanimous decision win over Josh Grispi in February.

Gonzaga and Herman’s clash is a particularly pressure-packed situation for both heavyweights. Gonzaga was knocked out cold this past April by Travis Browne and Herman has lost three fights in a row, all by either knockout or submission. Herman is also coming off of a marijuana-related suspension and rehab stint.

*Update*The UFC has also just announced that former WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown has un-retired and will face Akira Corassani on the UFC on Fox Sports 1 card in Boston. Brown last fought and won a year ago at UFC 146, against Daniel Pineda. He won the WEC featherweight title by beating Urijah Faber and lost it to Jose Aldo in 2009.

Corassani has won his first two UFC bouts, against Ogle and Robbie Peralta.

– Elias Cepeda

(A throwback, Conor McGregor got all dressed up for the announcement)

Corassani has won his first two UFC bouts, against Ogle and Robbie Peralta.

– Elias Cepeda

UFC 162: Shane Del Rosario Injured, Gabriel Gonzaga in to Face Dave Herman

Less than three months after being knocked out by Travis Browne’s vicious elbows, Gabriel Gonzaga will jump into the mix at UFC 162 in Las Vegas, Nev.Gonzaga will be stepping in for the injured Shane Del Rosario and face Dave Herman. The matchup was co…

Less than three months after being knocked out by Travis Browne’s vicious elbows, Gabriel Gonzaga will jump into the mix at UFC 162 in Las Vegas, Nev.

Gonzaga will be stepping in for the injured Shane Del Rosario and face Dave Herman. The matchup was confirmed via the UFC Twitter feed:

Herman, now 1-3 within the UFC, is desperately looking for a win. “Pee-Wee” has been finished in three straight fights and hasn’t won since June of 2011. That win was against a guy named John-Olav Einemo, who has since retired from fighting and ended his UFC career with an 0-2 record.

Gonzaga has been fighting in the UFC for what seems like forever. This fight against Herman will mark the 16th time he has competed for the organization. Over his previous 15 UFC fights, Gonzaga has compiled a record of 9-6 and has won two of his last three.

Gonzaga’s signature win is still the knockout kick to the head of Mirko “Cro Cop” he landed at UFC 70 over six years ago. Although he has won two of his last three in the UFC, he has suffered defeat in three of his last five overall inside the Octagon.

With Gonzaga replacing Del Rosario, Herman won’t have to alter is strategy much as both Del Rosario and Gonzaga love to transition between kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

The fight is expected to be the first fight on the FX portion of the preliminary fights. Other notable fighters on the FX portion of the card include Mark Munoz, Tim Boetsch, Chris Leben and Edson Barboza.

UFC 162 takes place on Saturday, July 6, 2013.

Joe Chacon is a Contributor to Bleacher Report and can be followed on Twitter @JoeChacon.

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