Chris Weidman Likely Next for Anderson Silva Says UFC Boss

Chris Weidman

Weidman vs. Silva this summer?

Rashad Evans was supposed to drop down to middleweight and fight Anderson Silva after dominating Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 156.

The latter, as we all saw last Saturday night, did not happen. Therefore, Rashad Evans has been taken out of consideration for Silva's next opponent.

So did the UFC have a plan B in the case of an upset? Most definitely, only this competitor has seemed more like Plan A for a long time in the eyes of many fans.

That competitor is Chris Weidman, and now that Rashad Evans has blown his chances of a title shot with a horrific performance, the  Serra-Longo wrestling star moves to the head of the line to fight the greatest in the world.

Weidman has believed he is worthy of middleweight gold since his knockout of Mark Munoz in July of 2012. Though this is the only big name fighter Weidman has beaten, the other more qualified contenders either already faced "The Spider" or lost their last fight.

Even Dana White has come to terms with the fact that Weidman is simply the best choice at this point in time. When MMAjunkie.com asked the UFC President about Weidman vs. Silva, White not only said that this fight makes sense, but also that it could happen as soon as this summer

"I liked Weidman for this fight, anyway, so yeah. We've got to make the fight," White said. "We've got to make sure Weidman is alright. The later the better for Weidman though. We're thinking about the summer. It looks like Weidman. As long as Weidman's healthy that's probably the fight we'll make." 

Unfortunately, one person who doesn't believe that Weidman is the rightful number one contender is Silva himself.  He shares the opinion of many fans that Weidman needs at least one more victory over a top-tier fighter to legitimately earn a shot at the belt.

However, due to extenuating circumstances in the form of two unexpected losses (the other being Michael Bisping to Vitor Belfort), the champion may just have to accept the reality of the unforeseen situation at hand and give Weidman what he now deserves more than any other middleweight standout.