Anderson Silva Confirmed To Fight Daniel Cormier UFC 200 After Jon Jones Fails Drug Test, Conor McGregor Is Left To Twiddle His Thumbs
UFC veteran Anderson Silva has officially been confirmed as the new opponent for Daniel Cormier in this weekend’s UFC 200. Silva replaces interim UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones, who failed a preliminary drug test for the fight.
UFC President Dana White had shrugged off rumors earlier in the day that Silva would be stepping into the octagon, but the organization confirmed Anderson Silva’s last-minute bout via social media and their website.
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While Cormier will now be unable to settle his score with Jon Jones as to who is the undisputed UFC champion in the light heavyweight weight class, Daniel noted he was happy to still have the opportunity to fight and commended Silva for accepting the challenge on two days notice in an exclusive with MMA Fighting.
“This is a very tough fight for me, and I have to fight smart and to do my best in order to win this fight. Thank you Anderson for stepping up, and thanks to Dana White and the UFC for making this happen. Now let’s go do this,” Cormier stated.
As for Anderson Silva’s take on the match up? According to MMA Junkie, Silva told reporters that, while he was in good shape, Anderson didn’t want Daniel Cormier to think he was being underestimated.
“A fight’s a fight and I’ve gone through a lot of bad things in my fights in the UFC so anything can happen out there,” Silva told the press. “I think it’s going to be interesting – I’m going to have to run away from him,” Anderson kidded adding that he was coming to fight even if it wasn’t the weight class or chance at the belt Silva had hoped for.
There was a time in his career in which Anderson Silva was considered unbeatable in the UFC, as he carried on a sixteen bout winning streak that began in 2006 and ran until 2012. When Silva’s more recent bouts ended with three losses and a no contest after testing positive for performance enhancing substances, many thought that Anderson’s tenure with the UFC was done.
Some of Anderson Silva’s most notable UFC performances include his knockouts of Chael Sonnen and Vitor Belfort and the gruesome injury Silva suffered to his leg against Chris Weidman in UFC 168. As Silva threw an inside leg kick, his own leg snapped in two, leaving the lower half to flap around helplessly.
Following his return from injury, Silva was never quite the same. Anderson won his first fight back against Nick Diaz only to have it declared a no contest. Silva then faced current middleweight champ Michael Bisping and lost via unanimous decision.
With only one fight in the light heavyweight weight class to his name back in 2012, Silva may have his hands full fighting Cormier, whose weight class carries twenty more pounds than Anderson’s. Considering that Cormier is a wrestler and Silva is a Jiu Jitsu expert, and both Anderson and Daniel can pack a punch, that twenty pounds may be the deciding factor in who wins the fight. Unfortunately for Silva, and for Cormier, no belts will be up for grabs in the brawl.
The announcement of Anderson Silva versus Daniel Cormier surely came as a blow to the huge ego of another UFC fighter who had tried to prompt Dana White to scrap Cormier from the card completely and choose him instead. According to ESPN, Conor McGregor told reporters on Thursday that he was “here and in shape. All they gotta do is ask.”
The cheeky Irishman McGregor was more than likely tickled with the predicament Jones’ doping violation placed the UFC in at the last minute, considering that Conor was supposed to face Nate Diaz in a rematch at UFC 200 as the main card. The fight was scrapped due to McGregor’s refusal to leave training for a press junket. It will be interesting to see if Anderson Silva can bring in the financial draw he once did or if Dana White will be sorry for not giving in to McGregor’s antics.
[Image by Steve Marcus/Getty Images.]
