Seriously - no man is bigger than the UFC and any of its divisions. Anderson may be the best in the world and the biggest name, but he's not the match-maker and shouldn't get to pick and choose who he fights and where. Dana needs to put the structure that existed once upon a time back in place whereby the top contender gets the title shot. With Bisping out of it, it's either Rockhold or Weidman that should get it next. I'd say Rockhold because it makes sense being champion vs. champion and that markets itself. If Weidman wins in the meantime, he would obviously face the winner. If Anderson only wants big names and superfights and has got bored of fighting deserving contenders then he MUST vacate the MW title and stop holding the division hostage for all of the fighters who want to move forward and fight for the title.
When was he supposed to be fighting these guys? Rockhold wasn't even in the UFC until about a week ago and Weidman is hurt.
Will they give Weidman another fight when he comes back? He won't be back till June, right? I don't know how smart it is to fight Anderson Silva coming off a long layoff, injury and surgery. Maybe they could set up a champion vs. champion fight with Rockhold just for marketing purposes and have Weidman fight Vitor when he comes back.
Weidman hasn't fought since June. If he healed up tomorrow and they made the fight he wouldn't fight until May. He already has hardly any claim to a title shot but when you factor in a year's worth of inactivity he has even less of a claim.
Not understanding the gripe. he wasnt supposed to fight any of these guys. He has earned the chance to have legacy fights. he has nothing to prove. i dont see a true top contender at mw. they all keep calling out the champ and talking shit to each other then they lose. Philipou has the correct approach. Just fight and it will come (not that he will sniff a shot any time soon)
Weidman has not earned a shot yet. But I kinda wish they would just feed him to Silva so he will get ktfo and everyone will shut up about him
But he isn't, Dana has said many times GSP is the biggest draw, Brock also moved the needle. Anderson is a good fighter, but he isn't the fight promoter that some of the native English speakers are. The biggest PPVs in the 2000s haven't featured Anderson. Tito and Chuck were big draws. Anderson is popular in Brazil but the people who make the UFC the most money are the people who pay 50 dollars for a PPV in North America, plus the whales who fly into the casinos and drop big cash. Anderson should fight Bones Jones, that would sell. GSP is right that he is too small to fight Anderson who is at least 3 inches taller and many pounds heavier naturally.
