Chris Weidman vs. Vitor Belfort title fight slated for UFC 173 in May

UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman (11-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) will meet top contender Vitor Belfort (24-10 MMA, 13-6 UFC) in May’s UFC 173 main event.

UFC officials today announced the bout.

Over the past two weeks, officials mentioned two possible events for the title fight: the Memorial Day weekend show on May 24 or the Independence Day weekend event on July 5.

With the fight slated for the former, which is expected to air on pay-per-view from Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena, Weidman gets his desired summer off.

Weidman recently picked up a second win over ex-champ Anderson Silva to solidify his spot as the No. 1 ranked fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings. Now cleared of knee injuries, he can resume his preparations for No. 3-ranked Vitor Belfort.

Weidman previously stated he wanted the fight to happen in the U.S. due to Belfort’s use of testosterone-replacement therapy, which will surely be a talking point heading into the summer blockbuster.

“I’m happy about (fighting in Las Vegas),” Weidman said. “He’s fought in Brazil now for the last two years, and obviously he looks like the Hulk now. He’s on TRT, and he’s been caught cheating before for testosterone and I don’t know what else. … For a guy who’s 36 years old to have a lot higher testosterone than me at 29 years old, and I’ve never taken anything, is really not fair. So I’m happy that I’ll be fighting in Vegas, and I hope they’ll do due diligence in testing him to make sure he’s not cheating.”

Weidman, MMAjunkie’s 2013 Fighter of the Year, went 2-0 during the year with two upsets of longtime champ Silva. In reader voting, he narrowly edged Belfort, who went 3-0 in 2013 with three “Knockout of the Night” bonuses.

Fore more on UFC 173, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.