"It's a business and I understand what [Anderson Silva's camp] is doing so I don't take it personal. It's just, I put a lot of work in and my goal is to be champion, and I know I can beat Anderson Silva and I know I did enough work to get that fight. I know I'm a terrible, terrible match up for him. If I get my hands on Anderson Silva it's game over. I'm not kidding. If I get on top of him like Chael Sonnen got on top of him, I really believe in myself, I'm really going to finish the fight... I think I have the tools to beat him. I'm younger, I'm bigger than him, if not the same size, I have a longer reach, I know I have better wrestling and better jiu-jitsu. His stand-up is unbelievable, but I know I have the reaction time and the understanding of stand-up to where I'm not going to get knocked out from out of nowhere." -Chris Weidman via Sherdog

Top ranked middleweight contender Chris Weidman gives his thoughts on getting passed over for a title shot by UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and explains why he's the man to defeat the longtime champ.

The undefeated Weidman (9-0) is a former Olympic wrestling hopeful and Division I All-American out of Hofstra. He built up a lot of momentum in the middleweight division following dominant wins over Alessio Sakara, Tom Lawlor, Demian Maia and Mark Munoz, and many believe he is the best all-around fighter in the division aside from Silva.

The 28-year-old New York native was scheduled to face Tim Boetsch this Saturday night at UFC 155, but was forced from the contest due to injury.

Weidman remains unscheduled for an upcoming fight, as is Silva, but don't expect the two to be matched up anytime soon as Silva has repeatedly stated his desire for big name fights and isn't expected back in the Octagon until this summer at the earliest.