Anderson Silva will look to conquer the first fighter to beat him in a UFC championship fight, on the undercard of the last boxer to beat him in a boxing ring.
BoxingScene has confirmed that Brazil’s Silva will face former cage rival Chris Weidman in a trilogy clash on November 14 from Kaseya Center, home to the NBA’s Miami Heat. Their scheduled six-round heavyweight bout will open the four-fight Netflix main card topped by the Jake Paul-Gervonta “Tank” Davis exhibition grudge match.
The unique crossover bout marks the third entry in the Weidman-Silva rivalry, more than a decade after their pair of 2013 UFC middleweight championship meetings in Las Vegas.
Wiedman famously ended Silva’s near-seven-year reign with a July 2013 knockout victory. Silva’s bid for revenge ended in a 2nd round injury stoppage just five months later, which was also his last ever championship fight in the cage.
“This one is for Brazil,” Most Valuable Promotions co-founder and CEO Nakisa Bidarian told BoxingScene in a provided quote. “The greatest MMA fighter of all time Anderson Silva makes his return to boxing, in front of the world, against Chris Weidman, the man who ended Andersons’s record-setting championship reign.
“Both fighters have everything to gain on Friday, November 14 as legends closing out the trilogy chapter of a contentious rivalry, meeting in the ring for the first time following their two iconic clashes in the cage. Unfinished business will finally be settled.”
Weidman will make his boxing pro debut.
The 41-year-old Long Island, New York native enters the ring eleven months after his final UFC appearance. He is nearly a decade removed from the end of his two-plus year middleweight championship reign which ended in a December 2015 defeat to Luke Rockhold.
Following a December 2024 defeat in the cage, Weidman – a former two-time all-American wrestler – joined the Global Fight League. His first fight was to come in a rematch with Rockhold, but the league canceled its first two scheduled events and its future plans are on hold.
Determined to keep the line moving, Weidman – who has overcome a broken leg from 2021 – now turns to the ring.
"I'm undefeated in boxing and it's gonna stay that way,” said Weidman, though taking liberty with the “undefeated” claim since he’s yet to box. “I'm the original spider killer.”
Whereas Weidman will box for the first time, Silva will resume his ring career.
The 50-year-old Brazilian will enter his sixth pro bout spanning 28 years. He boxed professionally in 1998 and again in 2005 before going all in for his legendary MMA career. He claimed the UFC middleweight crown in 2006 and made 10 successful defenses before his pair of defeats to Weidman. He fought seven more times in the cage before retiring in 2020.
His return to the boxing ring came six months later, and Silva made an immediate splash. An eight-round, split decision win over former WBC middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr served among the biggest upsets of 2021 – and arguably of the post-pandemic era.
Not to rest on his laurels, Silva parlayed the victory into two more lucrative bouts. The first came just three months later, where he savagely knocked out fellow former UFC champion Tito Ortiz in the first round of their September 2021 boxing match.
More than a year later, Silva squared off with Paul in a high-profile Showtime Pay-Per-View headliner. Paul won their October 2022 clash via eight-round decision, at the time marking his final pro contest. His lone piece of ring action came in a June 2024 boxing exhibition with former UFC rival Chael Sonnen at home in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The allure to settle unfinished business with Weidman was enough to bring him back.
“I am super excited to embark on another battle against Chris,” said Silva. “We have a history and on Friday, November 14th, live only on Netflix, we’re putting another stamp on our chapter together. It will be a spectacle for the fans!"
Silva-Weidman III rounds out the four-fight main card, which will include two major title fights.
The evening’s co-feature pits lineal and unified 130lbs champion Alycia Baumgardner, 16-1 (7 KOs) and Canada’s Leila Beaudoin, 13-1 (2 KOs) in a championship affair scheduled for 12, 3-minute rounds. Also on the show, reigning WBA 140lbs titlist Gary Antuanne Russell, 18-1 (17 KOs) risks his belt against mandatory challenger Andy Hiraoka, 24-0 (19 KOs).
