UFC president Dana White confirmed the news on his Twitter account Thursday night.
Advertisement
In his brief statement on his new opponent, Daniel Cormier said: “I am honored to share the Octagon with the one of the greatest fighters of all time”. “Anderson Silva is undefeated at 205, and not just undefeated, but devastatingly undefeated”.
Silva usually fights at 185 pounds, but he has been known to jump up to 205. The three-day notice is unheard of in the fight world, which is the same thing people said when Nate Diaz agreed to take on Conor McGregor on just 11 days’ notice. So when UFC president Dana White called to see if he was interested in replacing Jon “Bones” Jones as Daniel Cormier’s opponent Saturday night, Silva decided to make it a working vacation.
The 41-year-old Silva (33-7) was the middleweight champion for almost seven years. He was set to be back in action last May against Uriah Hall at UFC 198 but an abdominal woe sidelined him.
The UFC also changed the bout order for the second time in 24 hours, promoting Miesha Tate’s bantamweight title fight against Amanda Nunes to the main event.
It’s a weird matchup-Cormier’s a former heavyweight, Silva, 41, is a middleweight who had surgery to remove his gall bladder in May-but it’s undoubtedly compelling.
Because UFC 200 is looking attractive again with the addition of Silva.
“I’ve gone through a lot of phases in my UFC career, and no one’s been able to beat everything that I’ve done”, Silva said.
“I’m here to challenge myself”, Silva said at the hastily-arranged press conference. Fearing the worst, the UFC was forced to cancel Jones’ rematch with rival Daniel Cormier, cutting out the main event of the biggest event in UFC-and indeed MMA history. Once Silva was agreed upon, a discussion took place over whether it would be a three- or five-round bout and whether or not the title would be on the line. Lesnar vs Hunt will co-headline while Cormier vs. Silva will feature in the middle of the card.
Advertisement
Anderson Silva vs Daniel Cormier.
