Deserving Or Not, Anderson Silva May Get An Immediate Title Shot Upon His Return

With former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva already off his crutches and training less than two months after his gruesome broken leg suffered against Chris Weidman at UFC 168, talk will soon shift to just whom “The Spider’s” return bout will be against.

While it’s not set in stone that Silva returns to the Octagon, all signs are pointing to him coming back. He’s trying to push himself to get back in shape as soon as possible, although that strategy could help him or hurt him.

He’ll be nearly 40 years old if and when he decides to come back, and the division will have gotten even tougher than it already was in his absence. Emerging contenders like Lyoto Machida and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza are all clawing for a shot at the title, which Weidman will defend against the surging Vitor Belfort at UFC 173 on May 24.

The current title picture has more legitimate championship contenders than any of the years of Silva’s reign, making his return a challenging task regardless of how healthy he is. However, other than an immediate title shot, there’s not much else of a spot to book the still No. 1–ranked Silva.

Obviously a fight with Weidman is the UFC’s biggest moneymaker. But despite the puzzling nature of both fights, Weidman did win both in rather destructive fashion.

If Belfort happens to beat the champ at UFC 173, then we could see a very interesting match-up. After all, Silva destroyed Belfort with his now-infamous front kick at UFC 126 in early 2011, and you can bet “The Phenom” would love to get another chance at avenging that loss. They’ve both kind of traded places at this point in their respective careers, with Silva suffering his only two Octagon losses in a row while Belfort destroyed three top-level foes with headkicks in 2013.

News broke today that Machida might be out for up to six months with an injured foot after his decision win over Gegard Mousasi at last Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 36. Even if he wasn’t, talk of “The Dragon’s” next title shot was put on hold after the Brazilian card. A lot of that probably has to do with the UFC wanting to see how Silva recovers.

Souza also has a strong claim for a title shot, but he, too, is injured, headed for minor elbow surgery that will keep him out for around six weeks. He’ll still need at least one more high quality before he fights for gold, and even then it could be quite far off. Luke Rockhold, who took the Strikeforce middleweight belt from Souza in September 2011, has been rumored to be next for “Jacare.”””

So, why not have Silva return to face either Machida or “Jacare” if the timetables match up? Both would be great fights, but Machida and Silva are friends who may not agree to face off.

And at the heart of the matter, it’s just hard to see the UFC booking Silva in anything other than a title fight upon his return. With Silva and Georges St. Pierre on the sidelines and both Anthony Pettis and Cain Velasquez injured, the UFC is hurting for top-flight drawing power.

It can’t be argued that Silva would provide a much-needed shot of just that.

A rematch with either Weidman or Belfort would arguably be the one of the biggest UFC fights of all-time, so it’s kind of hard not to make it happen it if Silva’s medical team clears him to fight within the next nine months to a year. He may even be back to training sooner than that.

Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen, but don’t be surprised to see “The Spider” booked in yet another huge UFC title fight immediately upon his return.

Deserving or not, Dana White knows his window of opportunity to bank on one of the UFC’s best-ever cash cows is closing.

Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea for USA TODAY Sports