Vitor Belfort is Chris Weidman’s next opponent. Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
The post-fight press conference for the UFC 168, the last event of 2013, brought two important piece of news for the 2014 season.
First, in February 22, Ronda Rousey will fight again to defend her Bantamweight title.
This time, the opponent will be Sara McMann on UFC 170.
Ronda had not much to say about the fight: “I feel like I could fight again tonight, so I’m completely ok with fighting soon”.
The other major news was the definition of Chris Weidman’s next opponent.
The “All-American” will face Vitor Belfort to defend his middleweight title for the second time.
Weidman had nothing but good words for Belfort, who was present: “He is completely different than Anderson, so it’s a good thing to move on”.
Belfort also talked from the back of the room: “Thank you Chris for accepting my challenge. I’ll be back in the gym this Monday”.
Dana White did not give a date for the Weidman vs. Belfort fight.
The UFC President talked a bit about Anderson Silva’s grueling injury: “That’s a freaky accident. The worst we had in the UFC so far. Now, it’s a matter of wishing him a good recovery. Then we can maybe talk about a comeback”.
Weidman also brushed on what happened: “In the first fight he hurt me the most with his leg kicks so we worked that defense technique to check his kicks. I didn’t expect that to happen, but that’s how you check a kick”.
In closing, the $75K bonuses for tonight went to Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate (fight of the night), Ronda Rousey (submission of the night), Travis Browne (KO of the night).