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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
As UFC 162 gets closer and closer this week, UFC Middleweight Title challenger Chris Weidman remains wholly confident in himself, and he's envisioning a statement win over Anderson Silva to capture the Championship.
"I will beat Anderson Silva on Saturday, and I’m going for the finish," Weidman said on Tuesday's new episode of "UFC Tonight" on Fuel TV. "I have a hard time visualizing this fight going the full five rounds, with all due respect.”
"I've envisioned it. With any goal you've had, you have to live it. I've been living with the belt around me already. I just have to make it happen on Saturday."
Weidman's five-round Title fight with Silva headlines Saturday's pay-per-view card from Las Vegas, just under a year after his last time in the cage.
Penick's Analysis: Weidman's talking himself into a dangerous corner here, because if he fails to follow through with a victory then all the pre-fight talk gets thrown back in his face. It's great that he feels confident in himself and his abilities, and he's assuredly not going to beat himself against Silva; still, he's fighting the best fighter his division's ever seen, and he's doing so after a year out of the cage. There's a lot more to this that he has to be taking into account, and if he falls short this pre-fight conversation could haunt him.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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