Many are under the impression that the rematch between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman could do some big business for the UFC, as the fallout from Chris Weidman knocking out Anderson Silva has sent shockwaves through the MMA community. Everyone was talking about that knockout and Anderson Silva said after the fight that he wasn’t interested in a rematch, that he didn’t want to chase the belt or be a champion anymore. So it was a bit surprising when the rematch was announced just about a week later and Anderson Silva seemed fine with it.
I mean, Anderson Silva is not that kind of guy. It turns out, he could have been pushed into the rematch by the UFC. This quote is from Lyoto Machida gives us some insight.
“Anderson’s rematch is fair; the guy ruled the division for a long time. He maybe didn’t really want to fight for the belt again but the UFC demanded it. I believe it wasn’t only Anderson’s intentions that prevailed in this situation.”