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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
There has been a lot of mind-changing going on the last several days in the UFC, and we're to a point with the Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman rematch where they may just need to make a decision soon and announce a fight.
First, UFC President Dana White said after the UFC 162 event last Saturday night that Super Bowl weekend 2014 made sense for the fight. Then, he thought about moving it back to December 28 at UFC 168, a move which would possibly move Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate further back. He later changed his mind on that.
Then, a report out of Brazilian media on Tuesday stated Silva wanted the rematch with Weidman in February, the date that White had initially discussed. However, a report on Wednesday has shifted that timetable up further, and White is back again discussing putting the fight on in 2013.
According to a report from Ariel Helwani at MMAFighting.com, citing sources close to Silva, the former Champion quickly changed his mind on a rematch in the hours after losing to Weidman on Saturday night. While he said immediately after that he didn't need a rematch and was tired, Helwani's report states that Silva was very quickly turned around on that idea.
Further, Silva would allegedly like the fight to happen this year, as soon as possible, not in February. That's if he has the choice, of course. Backing him up on that is White again wavering, telling NBC Sports radio on Tuesday that he is indeed looking to put the fight together for this year.
Whenever and wherever it comes, it's sure to do huge business for the UFC. For now, they need to move beyond whisperings and wavering and lock down a time and location for the fight to happen.
Penick's Analysis: If it's going to happen this year, it may make the most sense to do a dual headlining event at either UFC 167 or UFC 168. Pairing this already massive rematch with Georges St-Pierre and the UFC's 20th anniversary could be unbelievably huge, but there's a chance of this fight overwhelming the co-main, and St-Pierre hasn't been pushed to a co-main since UFC 100. If they put it on the 2013 year's end card at UFC 168, it has a chance to elevate Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate further by having their fight take place on one of the most watched events ever. Of course, again, there's the risk of the co-main getting well overshadowed by this fight, but having a double bill on Dec. 28 makes more sense than pushing Rousey-Tate back considering Rousey's sole UFC appearance came in February of this year.
[Anderson Silva art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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