After his most recent outing, an utterly dominant performance over Mark Munoz at UFC on Fuel TV 4, Chris Weidman has propelled himself into the upper tier of the middleweight division. To some, he is the number one contender to the longtime middleweight king, Anderson Silva, while to others, he still has yet to prove his claim.

While the general opinion on what he deserves is split, Chris has been very vocal about where he places himself in the division. He wants a chance to fight a man he honors. Recently UFC Tonight caught up with Weidman, and Ariel Helwani asked him about what the UFC has told him so far. Here's what Weidman said:

From what I'm being told, I think it's a fight they would want to make happen, but now, it's just confusing. I don't really know what's going on, I'm hoping to find out maybe from Dana White, hopefully I'll get a little meeting and find out, but I'm really just clueless at this point.

What he said there lines up pretty well with what he's already said on numerous occasions. The UFC has told him it's a fight they want to make, but these kinds of negotiations can be difficult, and he's not completely in the loop.

I mean, I didn't take a couple of fights right after guys were challenging me, like Vitor Belfort, and I didn't take them because the UFC didn't want me to take them. They wanted me to, you know, wait for that Anderson Silva fight, but now it's up in the air so I don't know what's going on.

This quote makes it a bit more interesting. Some people had been saying that Weidman would need another fight or two to get a title shot, mentioning names like Vitor Belfort. What Weidman says shows that the UFC may have actually wanted to get a fight with Silva put together, if they were telling him to turn down big fights like that.

You can check out some more choice quotes and the video from UFC Tonight after the jump.

When asked about how he feels about waiting for a possible title shot, and how long he's willing to wait for that opportunity to come, Chris had this to say:

I don't have any deadline, but I am young, and I want to make the most of my career. You know, I have a lot of respect for Anderson Silva just like everybody else does, I think he's the greatest of all time, and I've looked up to him and I still do. I definitely think I'm the biggest challenge and he knows, and his management knows I'm the biggest challenge. I would expect him, if he's the guy who we think he is, to take that challenge and try to beat that challenge.

Chris clearly wants a title shot, and he's willing to stand up for what he thinks about his position in the division. Whether that will get him what he wants or not, has yet to be seen, but this matchup is likely to happen some day. Here's what he said when asked to speak directly to the champ, should he be watching:

Hey man, just give me a chance. Obviously I believe that I'm gonna beat you, so it's tough for me to tell you to do, but you had one fight when you got the chance and you were able to make the best of it, just give me my opportunity, and I think it's gonna be a great fight.



