The UFC has been working on securing Anderson Silva’s next opponent for a while now, with Anderson seeming a bit tentative about the prospect of fighting current Middleweight Contender Chris Weidman. Anderson Silva has made no secret of his intentions to eventually retire and looking for bigger name fights for himself, the kind of fights that will earn him a decent PPV cut and secure his legacy. Weidman has undoubtedly made a name for himself with his last two wins, scoring a decision win over former contender Demian Maia and knocking out would-be contender Mark Munoz in brutal fashion last year.
Weidman was scheduled to face Tim Boetsch in December until he had to pull out due to injury and it looks like his patience in securing his next UFC fight is about to pay off.
According to reports from Newsday’s Mark La Monica, Lorenzo Fertita has confirmed that at UFC 162 on July 6th Anderson Silva will defend his UFC Middleweight Championship against Chris Weidman. This will mark Anderson Silva’s eleventh Middlweight Title defense (twelve if you count Lutter’s failure to make weight) for the 37 year-old fighter.