For the first time in his UFC career, Anderson Silva was defeated inside the Octagon at UFC 162. In the second round of what would have been his 11th title defense, Silva was caught by a left hook from contender Chris Weidman and subsequently TKO’d. Even though he had been promised an immediate rematch by Dana White prior to the fight, the former Middleweight champ declined the offer in his post-fight interview.
After taking a few days to reflect, it looks like Anderson is changing his tune. Guilherme Cruz reported on Twitter:
White originally said he wanted to get the rematch going for the New Year’s Eve at UFC 168, but didn’t take long back off that statement. If the fight goes down in February, it would seem most likely that it happens on the Super Bowl weekend card which is historically the UFC’s biggest event early in the year. However, Dana also said he doesn’t want “the biggest fight in UFC history” to compete with the Super Bowl. So, we’ll have to wait and see where this fight ends up.