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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
In a new interview with GQ Brazil published Friday afternoon, Anderson Silva said that his rematch with Chris Weidman will take place at UFC 168 on Dec. 28.
"After losing, [I] have to get ready again and fight again. Incidentally, I confirm the rematch, which will be held on December 28 this year," Silva said.
That's a fairly decisive statement, and though the UFC hasn't officially announced anything regarding the rematch, Dec. 28 had already been discussed as a potential landing spot for the fight.
The next question will be whether or not they keep the Ronda Rousey-Miesha Tate fight on that card as planned. That fight was announced for the event already this month, and is the logical placement of the fight given Rousey's been out since February and December brings a conclusion to their coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter.
Regardless, Silva's ready to return and to try to recapture the title. He learned some lessons in that fight, and while he says he'd do some things differently, he doesn't think his gameplan was all bad.
"I think I would focus more [if I could go back to that second round]," Silva said. "[I would] make a reverse path, but would not change the tactic. I am confident that I made my only game that did not work out. Game is game, you can win or lose."
"The most important thing for me was to realize that people like me and want to see me always winning. But it was also important to reiterate that I am not invincible. Nobody is. Every lot has its bad days."
After showing that he's only human, Silva hopes he can get the win back, and wants to let his fans know he's not giving up off of one defeat.
"I would say, first of all, that to err is human," Silva said. "Never surrender. Only fighting is fighting. In life, we struggle a lot and does not always work, but by no means cease to be struggling. Have to get up, turn it up, and keep fighting. Keep fighting, but [that] does not mean always winning."
There's one wrench possibly thrown into this scenario, as UFC President Dana White denies that a date is set for the fight. Fuel TV's Ariel Helwani and Yahoo! Sports reporter Kevin Iole relayed comments from White on Twitter in response to Silva's interview with GQ Brazil.
Just asked @danawhite about this GQ Brasil report. "He didn't tell them that. We have no fight yet," he said. Stay tuned.
Penick's Analysis: If the fight indeed comes to UFC 168, I hope they don't move the Rousey-Tate fight, because I don't think it's the best idea to push that to Super Bowl weekend. It would make more sense to have that fight co-main and be seen by perhaps the largest pay-per-view audience the organization's ever had. That two-fight combination could potentially reach UFC 100 levels, though that's still a stretch. It would certainly break a million, the first UFC event to do that in some time, and having the two be on the same card, I think, is the right move. Dana White's denial doesn't hold water, given I wouldn't think GQ Brazil would run an entire interview with Silva with fake quotes. There's a possibility perhaps that they misconstrued something, but for now we'll be staying tuned for more.
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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