Rashad Evans ahead of Chris Weidman for Anderson Silva's next title fight

Just a few days ago, UFC president Dana White told UFC Tonight that Chris Weidman's title shot was "closer than people think." It seemed like good news for Weidman as he's been campaigning for that shot for the last six months. However, White did qualify his statement by saying Chris was only one of the options the UFC is looking at for Anderson Silva's next fight.

Thursday during the media scrum for UFC 156, White revealed the option for the next Middleweight contender:

Dana: if Rashad wins on Saturday and wants to go to 185, I would consider him vs Anderson. It's down to him and Weidman.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 31, 2013

As White said, before he gets a chance at Silva, Rashad Evans will first have to get past Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 156 this Saturday. That fight will be Rashad's first since losing a lopsided decision to Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones at UFC 145 in April 2012.

Rashad has recently talked about a potential fight with Silva. While he says he's confident that he can beat pound-for-pound great, he's been concerned with his ability to cut the extra 20 lbs. to hit the Middleweight limit.