Silva vs. Weidman Results: What Now for the UFC?

In the buildup to Saturday night's main event, a lot of fighters and MMA insiders were predicting a Chris Weidman victory over Anderson Silva, but I'm not sure how many people actually believed the hype, including the UFC.

Weidman seemed like your usual hard-working wrestler whose story would make for a nice Cinderella tale, albeit one that many thought was destined to end in bloody, horror movie style fashion at the hands of The Spider.

To the surprise of all—even the Weidman supporters—the 29-year-old New York native pulled off what many deemed impossible and brutally finished Silva with a barrage of strikes in the second round.

Now the UFC's newest king of the middleweight division, Weidman, may have thrown a wrench into the plans of the world's largest MMA promotion.

If things had gone according to plan last night, Silva would have recorded his 11th straight title defense and likely would have been on track for a superfight with either welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre or light-heavyweight king Jon Jones.

While the GSP bout was less likely to take place, a superfight with Jones was looking like a real possibilty for The Spider if he had gotten past Weidman.

Instead, any plans the UFC had for a champion vs. champion fight will either be on hold for a while or are probably already scrapped entirely. But that doesn't mean the company doesn't have any big fights to sell.

The obvious matchup that's already being talked about by UFC president Dana White is a rematch between Weidman and Silva.

Like The Spider's second bout with Chael Sonnen, this rematch has the potential to draw huge numbers as the entire MMA world will be wondering if Silva can reclaim his former glory.

The only caveat to that plan is the interest Silva has in wanting to fight Weidman again. Judging by his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, The Spider didn't sound that enthused, so I wouldn't be surprised if another top contender takes his place.

Another problem the UFC will have to deal with is how to fill the marketing void exists now that its biggest star has fallen.

Luckily, Cain Velasquez, Jon Jones and GSP seem poised to continue their reigns for quite some time, so expect these fighters to get more face time.

And let's not forget about the marketing powerhouse that is Ronda Rousey.

While the UFC will no longer have its version of Michael Jordan as the poster child of the middleweight division, Weidman's down to earth personality and just insane athleticism and skills make him an easy champ to sell. 

The Anderson Silva era may be over, but don't expect the UFC's rise to the mainstream to stop anytime soon.

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