Dana White: Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva Closer Than People Think

UFc middleweight contender Chris Weidman

UFC brass talking about "The Spider" vs "The All American"

If it were up to Anderson Silva and his camp, his next bout would be against the likes of  Cung Le or even Luke Rockhold, not Chris Weidman. However, unfortunately for the  best fighter on the planet, he does not call the shots.

With the losses of Michael Bisping, Alan Belcher, and Tim Boetsch, the UFC's middleweight division has seemingly thinned itself out. However, one man who has remained in the talks for Silva's strap would be Long Island's own Chris Weidman.  Yet, as we have seen in the last few weeks Anderson Silva and his manager have stated they don't think anything is to gain from a bout with Weidman, as he does not have the name recognition that he would like an opponent to have.

So, is that the end to the possible bout? According to Dana White's statements on Tuesday's edition, that fight is in actuality is one that could be in the works:

"I think that fight's closer and more possible than people think," said UFC president Dana White. "I actually thought Weidman was going to be out a lot longer than he was because of his injuries. But, he's healed up pretty well and he's going to be ready to start training again in a couple months."

"We're looking at a couple different options right now, some options that we like. And Weidman is one of them."

As of now, the possibility that Weidman will be named as Silva's next opponent is a strong one, despite what the champion says. "The Spider's"  idea of a Cung Le bout has already been laughed at by White. The always discussed super fights with Georges St. Pierre and Jon Jones are, at least for now, not going to happen as they both already matched up with. Even the heavy-handed Hector Lomabard will meet Yushin Okami in Japan this March.

White has also stated in the past weeks that they were trying  to put together a fight between with the Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold and Vitor Belfort. Even if those two were to not meet, would White really put a fight together with someone as relatively unknown to the UFC fan base such as Rockhold? Would White really give Belfort a rematch with Silva after he was front kicked into oblivion the last time the two met? Logic would more than likely say no.

That leaves "The All American" Chris Weidman, who at this point could be the best of what is left of the UFC's middleweights, as he has done perhaps enough to prove that he is the rightful heir to the number one contender throne.

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