Silva Likely Next If Bisping Wins, UFC Boss Still Says "GSP," Jones on Horizon

SILVA LIKELY NEXT IF BISPING WINS, UFC BOSS STILL SAYS 'GSP,' JONES ON HORIZON
BY JOHN MORGAN ON DEC 16, 2012 AT 1:55 AM ET

LAS VEGAS – When Michael Bisping (23-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) meets Vitor Belfort (21-10 MMA, 10-6 UFC) in the main event of January's UFC on FX 7 event, "The Count" may have something very special hanging in the balance: a date with Anderson Silva (33-4 MMA, 16-0 UFC).

"If Bisping wins, Bisping will probably get that next shot," UFC President Dana White said following Saturday's The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale.

Bisping meets Belfort in Sao Paulo at the Jan. 19 event. The 17-time UFC veteran is currently 5-1 in his past six fights and had actually taken to Twitter to press for interim-title status to be added to the matchup when it seemed Silva's 2013 plans were unclear.

"If Anderson wants to take time off to be a movie star make me and vitor for the interim title????" Bisping wrote in a tweet directed at UFC President Dana White.

That was on the heels of a report that Silva might take off most of the year while allowing other contenders to sort themselves out, as well as during a time when it looked as if "The Spider" might meet UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in a superfight sometime in the spring. Now that those plans have been nixed, Silva will apparently get back to action sooner rather than later.

Of course, Belfort's camp has guaranteed Bisping will not emerge from the bout victorious. If that's the case, who's next to take the Brit's place?

"We'll see what happens," White said.

While Bisping and his supporters will certainly be thrilled with Saturday's revelation, it does leaves some doubt as to the long-discussed superfight between Silva and St-Pierre. "GSP" is now booked with Nick Diaz, and Silva appears to be waiting on January's results.

However, White said he believes there is still a strong possibility the two champions meet down the road. And as he's said before, the UFC boss still believes Jon Jones lies on the horizon, as well.

"I truly believe – and he's got to get through Diaz and then possibly Hendricks – but I honestly believe that before Anderson Silva retires, he will fight Georges St-Pierre and Jon Jones," White told MMAjunkie.com.