Winning the rematch would make AS a greater champion than defending 1st time (?)

[Lanshire]

No. It might make people think the 1st fight was a fluke and that's understandable. Losing and then regaining the title is not as good as not losing it in the 1st place.

 

[Mr. Fresca]

Beating Silva has obviously legitimized Weidman bigtime, so for Silva to win the rematch would be a lot bigger than having beaten a 9-0 rookie in the first place. Keeping his streak alive would've been huge too though.

This is the Matt Serra paradox.

If Anderson wins, then he gets to claim a victory over the #1 ranked fighter when reviewing his accomplishments (people often list the number of top 10 or top 5 wins when debating GOATs).

It is not as bad as when GSP gets to claim victory over a top ranked Matt Serra even though Serra was only ranked because he beat GSP. At least Weidman was top 10.