You guys probably have an idea of where I stand on Weidman-Silva. Weidman has the exact (only) skillset there is to beat Anderson Silva. For all the talk of the Bispings and Belforts of the world getting a title shot against Silva, please explain how they would win? Outstrike Silva? Of course not. The only way you beat him is to neutralize his skillset as a deadly, deadly striker. Weidman has that ability. I truly believe that he has the best overall grappling ability in all of MMA, when you factor in takedowns, wrestling, scrambles, positional control and advancement, GNP and submissions. Everyone knows the accolades in college, and his great showing at ADCC, that shows the type of "freak" he is in the grappling department, the way certain fighters are just freak strikers because it simply all makes sense to them.
Now that we know there's a clear path to victory, and we know he has enough octagon IQ to utilize that, the question becomes can he take, and hold Silva down without getting KO'd on the way in for 25 minutes. I'm confident that when the fight hits the mat, Chris is active enough to improve position and open up GNP with much more power and leverage than Chael was able to produce while being stuck in Silva's guard for much of their first fight. In addition to this, Weidman will look for subs, forcing Silva to have to open himself up a bit more for ground and pound attack. Chris stays active enough to keep this from getting stood up too often, as he constantly looks to improve position, and tools Silva in scrambles.
Again, we must ask, can this continue to happen for 5 rounds without Chris getting caught? I'm not nearly bold enough to predict a finish on CW's part, but I think he's the biggest, fastest strongest, best grappler Silva has ever come close to facing, and knowing Silva's weakness, this poses a BAD BAD match-up for Silva at this late stage in his career. I'd love to see this fight happen if Weidman had simply 2 more years of development under his belt, but nevertheless, I'm going with the upset. Weidman executes on his takedowns early and often, works a similar gameplan to Chael but with a more active ground game, doesn't get himself caught in a sub, and takes a decision....
...at least, often enough that it makes a bet at +210 (placed 2 days ago) justifiable for me.