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vitor-vs-weidman With so much hype surrounding the Light heavyweight title match at UFC 187 it seems like everybody has forgotten that the co-main event is also a title match for the middleweight title featuring the UFC middle weight champion Chris Weidman(12-0) vs the #3 contender Vitor Belort(24-10).

Weidman who has been the champion since knocking out former champion Anderson Silva with a straight right hand in the second round at UFC 162 on July 6 2013.  Weidman next defended his title in a rematch against Anderson Silva December 28 2013 at UFC 168. Weidman once again won the fight in the second round when Anderson Silva threw a inside leg kick which Weidman checked snapping Silva’s Fibula and Tibia immediately forcing referee Herb Dean stop the 1:16 into the second round and giving Weidman the win via Tko.

Next Weidman was expected to defend his title his title against Vitor Belfort at UFC 173 but Belfort was forced to withdraw from that match due to injury. It was announced that Weidman would face former middle weight champion Lyoto Machida but the fight was pushed back due to Weidman suffering a knee injury which required the champ to have surgery on both knees. The bout did take place at UFC 175 where Weidman retained his title in a fight of the night outing winning via unanimous decision.

Weidman was supposed to defend his title against Belfort at UFC 181 and UFC 184 but Weidman was forced to withdraw from both matches due to injury. The match is now scheduled to be the co-main event at UFC 187 May 23 2015. Vitor Belfort is no stranger to the big stage being a former UFC light heavyweight champion and having faced several big names in MMA including Randy Couture (3 times), Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Alistar Overeem, and even beating the UFC light heavyweight title contender Anthony Johnson via rear naked choke in the first round. The Brazilian veteran stands to be a though test for Weidman as Belfort has a very good chance at walking away from the match the new UFC middleweight champion.