Chris Weidman turned down Belfort to wait for Silva
Chris Weidman was a guest on last night’s UFC Tonight, and in an interview with Ariel Helwani revealed that he…
Chris Weidman was a guest on last night’s UFC Tonight, and in an interview with Ariel Helwani revealed that he was offered several fights, including Vitor Belfort, but turned them down so he could take a potential fight with Anderson Silva:
“From what I am being told, it is a fight that the UFC would want to make happen. Now, it is just confusing. I don’t know what is going on. I am waiting to find out from Dana White. I didn’t take a couple of fights from people challenging me, like (Vitor) Belfort, so I could take the Silva fight. But, now it is all up in the air. I don’t know what is going on.”
“I don’t have any deadlines, but I am young and I want to make the most of my career. I have a lot of respect for the guy, I think he is the greatest of all time and I look up to him. I think I am the biggest challenge to him and I think his camp knows that and I think he should challenge me.”
“Hey man, just give me a chance. Obviously I think I am going to beat you and it is a tough one for me to tell you to do. You had one fight when you got the chance, so just give me my opportunity, just give me the fight.”
Editors Note: Chris Weidman today clarified these comments on the Underground, explaining that he never turned down an actual offer from the UFC:
From: Weidman
Member Since: 7/16/12
Posts: 43
Whatsup guys! Appreciate all the support. Just wanted to make it clear what happened here. The week after my last fight Belfort and a bunch of guys called me out. No fight was offered to me from the UFC. So no fight was turned down. From my understanding the UFC told Belfort the fight wasn’t gonna happen with me and him so he took the fight with Belcher. At the same time my management and I were waiting for the UFC to find out when Anderson wanted to fight next. If it was in a couple of months then I was a possible opponent. A couple of weeks after Belfort already accepted the fight with Belcher, the UFC announced that Anderson wasn’t fighting until 2013. Had I known that from the beginning I would’ve jumped on the fight against Belfort. I think he’s a great fighter and it would’ve been great for my career.
