Chris Weidman Wants Anderson Silva In The Summer

UFC middleweight contender Chris Weidman

Weidman on Silva: "I think I really have him beat in a lot of areas"

While he didn't say it outright, there is not doubt that one of the happiest men following Michael Bisping's loss to Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX 7 has to be middleweight contender Chris Weidman.

Bisping was guaranteed his long awaited title fight with Anderson Silva if he were to defeat "The Phenom", however that fight would not come to fruition thanks to a monster head-kick KO. Weidman, who many consider the next challenger for the "Spider", was watching the fight and tweeted the following:

Hmmm.. interesting

— Chris Weidman (@ChrisWeidmanUFC) January 20, 2013

 

Ill be back in summer and that's when Anderson wanted to fight..coincidence? I think not : )

— Chris Weidman (@ChrisWeidmanUFC) January 20, 2013

Weidman spoke with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, detailing why he feels he is should be next for the middleweight champion:

"I’m not going to start saying Anderson Silva is a chicken and scared of me," he said. "I do think I am a bad matchup for him. I think I really have him beat in a lot of areas. I don't think he's faced anybody like me. I also can understand from his view point why he doesn't want to fight me, for a couple reasons."

"Whoever UFC decides, I’m good," he said. "I just cant wait to get back in the octagon and just keep proving myself. There are still a million doubters out there and I love proving them wrong. All the people who think I’m going to get killed by Anderson Silva, eventually I want to prove those guys wrong."

Weidman was scheduled to fight Tim Boetsch at UFC 155, howver was forced out of the bout when he injured his shoulder. He  has been on the sidelines recovering from surgery since pulling out of the fight.

The question of who Anderson Silva will fight next is perhaps the biggest in all of the sport in the moment. Knockout artist Hector Lombard is already slated to fight Yushin Okami when the UFC heads to Japan in March. Vitor Belfort apparently would rather rematch with Jon Jones. And Alan Belcher and Boetsch are headed down the division's ladder due to their recent losses. This leaves Strikeforce champion Luke Rockhold and Weidman.

However, while they both pose interesting match-ups to Silva, Rockhold is relatively unknown to the casual MMA fan base. Silva, who has said in the past that he wants the biggest fights possible, may not want to take a bout with a fighter with no UFC victories under his belt. Then again,  Silva's camp has recently stated they might be interested in a bout with Rockhold.

Weidman, on the other hand, has been angling himself for a fight with the champion ever since knocking out Mark Munoz last July, and has made a strong case with an undefeated record. Unless a wildcard is thrown into the mix, such as Rashad Evans, Chris Weidman's return to the octagon could be under the bright lights against the greatest of all time.

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