When Anderson Silva initially lost to Chris Weidman he was very vocal about not wanting to rematch Weidman for the title. Then he changed his tune. Now we're looking forward to Weidman vs. Silva 2 at UFC 168, but something clearly went on to change Silva's mind.
Silva's friend and training partner Lyoto Machida believes the UFC had to work hard to change Silva's mind. Here's what he told Globo (via Fighters Only):
"Anderson's rematch is fair; the guy ruled the division for a long time. He maybe didn't really want to fight for the belt again but the UFC demanded it. I believe it wasn't only Anderson's intentions that prevailed in this situation."
If this is true and the UFC arm-twisted Silva into a rematch, one has to wonder how the fight itself will pan out. Silva's career has been marred by his bizarre in-cage antics during bouts he wasn't interested in like UFC 112's fiasco against Demian Maia as well as his KO-precipitating clowning against Weidman at UFC 162.
If Anderson Silva doesn't want to fight, the UFC can't make him and fans may be looking forward to a clusterfuck of epic proportions should Silva choose to act out again in the rematch with Weidman.
Lyoto Machida faces Phil Davis at UFC 163 this Saturday.
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