After almost an entire year of thinking about nothing but fighting Anderson Silva, UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman will finally get to move on to the next chapter in is life.

Next on his plate is the ‘The Phenom’ Vitor Belfort, who is currently riding an incredible eight fight winning streak at 185-pounds in non-title bouts, with seven of those wins coming by way of knockout.

The Brazilian striker has been striking fear into the hearts of the UFC middleweight division, leading many fans wondering what it would take to put an end to Belfort’s violent streak of knockouts.

But during an appearance on the Power MMA Show on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, the confidence emanating from Weidman was palpable as he adamantly stated he had the tools to both keep the belt and defeat the surging Belfort

“I know he’s explosive,” said Weidman. “Everyone says the first two rounds are going to be the most dangerous but I am very confident I am going to beat him.”

But in a surprising statement, Weidman revealed he would not be making any drastic changes to his training camp leading up to his fight with Belfort.

“My game plan will be the same,” said Weidman “I’ll just walk forward and try and punch him and when he tries to overextend on something I will look for a takedown. I’m always going to be a wrestler so if there’s a takedown I’m going to go for it but I’m also not afraid to stay on my feet.”

It was this exact game plan that won Weidman the belt as he absolutely decimated the legendary Silva during the 12 combined minutes from their last two meetings.

When asked if he saw any similarities between Silva and Belfort, the champion pondered the question a moment and quickly shot down the assessment that two Brazilians brought the same skillsets into the cage.

“Vitor is the shorter, explosive guy while Anderson is rangier, lanky and is the more creative striker,” said Weidman. “So it’s two completely different guys.”

Weidman and Belfort are scheduled to meet in the main event of UFC 173 on May 24, 2014 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Only two other fights have been added to the preliminary card.

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