Perennial UFC light heavyweight contender Lyoto Machida says his friend and teammate Anderson Silva was pushed into a rematch with new middleweight champ Chris Weidman by their employer, according to Brazilian media outlet Globo (translation by Fighter’s Only).

"Anderson's rematch is fair; the guy ruled the division for a long time. He maybe didn't really want to fight for the belt again but the UFC demanded it. I believe it wasn't only Anderson's intentions that prevailed in this situation."

After 17 straight victories and 10 consecutive defenses of the UFC middleweight title, Weidman shocked the world by scoring a round 2 knockout over Silva at UFC 162 last month.

Despite initially saying he wasn’t interested in a rematch, or even fighting for the belt again, less than a week later “The Spider” agreed to fight his American counterpart again at UFC 168 on December 28, once again taking place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

While oddsmakers have the legendary Brazilian as a slight favorite in the rematch, this piece of information, if true, would inarguably put the odds in Weidman’s favor the second time around.

Meanwhile, Machida fights at UFC 163 tonight, looking to make it three in a row against former four-time All-American Division I wrestler Phil Davis.

“The Dragon” has just taken out highly-regarded wrestlers Ryan Bader and Dan Henderson in back-to-back fights, but Davis’ endless gas tank and constant pressure could make the bout interesting.

Was the money involved in Silva-Weidman II just too good for the UFC to pass up or did Silva genuinely decide he wanted an opportunity to redeem himself?