Before the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ever invaded MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, last night (Sat., July 6, 2013) for its annual Fourth of July weekend extravaganza, promotion President Dana White informed the media that Anderson Silva would receive an immediate rematch with Chris Weidman should he lose his middleweight championship in the main event of UFC 162.
Well, that's exactly what happened and White is making the same promise.
Except the former champion may not be playing ball. Indeed, "The Spider" told Joe Rogan in his post-fight interview inside the cage that while he respects Weidman and what he accomplished, he has no desire to fight for the title anymore.
That includes an immediate rematch.
Later, at the post-fight press conference, White told assembled reporters that he fully believes the Brazilian will change his mind soon enough and "there's nothing more that he wants than a rematch."
When asked again, the best Silva could come up with was that he wants to take four months off, go home to be with his family, and he'll think about his next move during that time.
That's certainly a reasonable answer and after the work the former pound-for-pound king has put in for the UFC, he deserves to get away from the fight game for a while to ponder his future in the sport. He is 38-years-old, after all, and after this many years working so tirelessly within the confines of the Octagon, his body likely needs all the rest it can get.
For his part, White relented and said it was fair for Silva to ask for the time away. The promotion has a loaded slate of action planned for the remainder of the year anyway; it's not like he can't afford to let the former 185-pound king go hang out with his kids for a while.
Right?
The question now, though, is what's next for Weidman? Do you even want to see a rematch?