With three events and 36 scheduled fights in a three-day span, the UFC’s International Fight Week was always going to be chaotic even if everything went as planned.
However, the chaos level ramped up significantly Wednesday when Jon Jones was pulled from his UFC 200 main event bout with Daniel Cormier after being flagged for a potential doping violation.
The UFC’s 11th-hour attempt to find a replacement for Jones so Cormier could stay on the card finally came to fruition late Thursday.
Cormier is now set to fight former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, UFC president Dana White confirmed.
The bout will be a three-round, non-title fight.
Rumours began to swirl about Silva being a possible replacement for Jones following a report from Brazilian outlet Combate.
Silva added fuel to the fire by posting this on his Instagram account in the afternoon.
Silva underwent successful surgery to remove his gallbladder in May after the 41-year-old was forced to withdraw from a scheduled UFC 198 bout with Uriah Hall. Shortly after his surgery, Silva publicly stated he wanted to get back in the cage as soon as possible and expressed a desire to compete on the anticipated UFC 200 card. He lost a unanimous decision to current middleweight champ Michael Bisping in his last outing.
Brock Lesnar vs. Mark Hunt had initially been promoted to the main event following the Jones news, but after this latest shakeup Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes will now serve as the headliner. Cormier-Silva will be featured on the main card.
In addition to Silva, Alexander Gustafsson volunteered his services, as did Bisping.
Even Conor McGregor, who is in Las Vegas with Nate Diaz doing press for their upcoming UFC 202 showdown, offered to step up and save the card.
Jones was stripped of the light-heavyweight belt last April after being arrested for his involvement in a hit-and-run incident in Albuquerque.
Cormier (17-1) won the vacant title last May at UFC 187 when he submitted Anthony Johnson. Cormier then defended the belt in a five-round classic against Gustafsson at UFC 192 in October and hasn’t fought since.
“I am honoured to share the Octagon with the one of the greatest fighters of all time,” Cormier said in an exclusive statement to 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.”
