Silva, now 41 but one of the finest fighters in UFC history, agreed to fight Cormier on short notice after the removal of Jon Jones for a positive drug sample. He has also tested positive for cocaine metabolites in a pre-fight drug test before fighting Cormier the first time and has several driving offences to his name.
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“Is there anything I can do?”
Let’s get something straight: If Conor McGregor couldn’t main event UFC 200, Jones vs. Cormier II is the bout everyone seemed okay with.
During an impromptu press conference after UFC Fight Night 90, White said that at the time of Globo’s report a bout wasn’t made, and instead came to fruition during the event. “Anderson Silva is undefeated at 205, and not just undefeated, but devastatingly undefeated”.
A late scratch from UFC 198 in May due to abdominal pain, Silva subsequently had his gall bladder removed. Now it seems Cormier will no longer have the chance to redeem himself against the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
It will be a non-title fight at 205 pounds, lasting three rounds.
The title fight between holder Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes in a hugely competitive women’s bantamweight division that also includes previous champions Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm is now the main event.
The Embedded cameras were in Cormier’s Las Vegas hotel room Thursday night when he received the call, to which he gleefully responded: “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a fight”. In fact, a Silva-Cormier fight might actually be more interesting than Jones-Cormier. I think I haven’t trained in a few months, so now I have to go out there and put on a good fight.
“Listen, I don’t know where Lorenzo [Fertitta] is on this issue, but I still haven’t talked to Jon Jones”, White said, per MMAFighting.com’s Chuck Mindenhall. Silva hasn’t fought since February when he lost to Michael Bisping.
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In a video released by Fox Sports, Cormier said it’s a privilege to fight Silva.
