UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman won a strong and decisive fight over Lyoto Machida this past weekend at UFC 175. The win served to erase some of the doubts around Weidman’s readiness to be champion, as he won 4 of 5 rounds against the division’s most feared contender. What is next for Chris Weidman?
Now that UFC 175 is over and Weidman emerged with the belt intact, expect Lyoto countryman Vitor Belfort to start making noise about a title fight. Belfort can make a strong case on paper, as he has put together a strong 3 fight winning streak that includes 3 highlight reel KO’s over Dan Henderson, Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold. He is one of the bigger names in the sport and would certainly be a draw, and he comes with the built in Weidman as a ‘Brazilian Killer’ angle that the UFC has relied on before.
But will the UFC run the risk of bad publicity by using Belfort? Belfort is part of the ‘dirty 3’ who have been all over the news with failed PED tests along with Chael Sonnen and Vanderlei Silva . the UFC had shown a willingness to ostracize Belfort before, but the Brazilian may be the best fight as far as heat goes, so this one can go either way.
The UFC has taken the co-main event scheduled for UFC 175 of Gegard Mousasi and Jacare Souza and put it a month later, on September 5th in Connecticut. A safer scenario for the UFC is to have the winner of that match be the next opponent for Weidman. The match features 2 of the top names in the division, and with Lyoto going to the back of the line, it would appear that the winner of that match will be poised as the number one contender.
But if Belfort can successfully re-cycle his image yet again, he is certainly the more marquee matchup for Weidman. Mousasi is an x-factor becuase of his diversity, and Souza is more of a hitman than someone who is likely to rally the entire country of Brazil around him. For the UFC, they are torn between doing the right thing and using Belfort for the marquee value.
