Anderson Silva Confirms He’s Off UFC 212 Card
Former longtime UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva was set to take on rising contender Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 212 on June 3 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but Gastelum was forced out of the fight after being flagged by USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) for a potential anti-doping violation.
Multiple fighters were rumored to be replacing Gastelum including former champions Luke Rockhold and Vitor Belfort, but Silva was essentially left without an opponent for weeks, as neither of those possibilities came to fruition. Eventually, he demanded an interim title fight with No. 1-ranked Yoel Romero, but that request was quickly denied by UFC President Dana White.
During a live Instagram stream yesterday (May 7, 2017), Silva had confirmed that he officially won’t be fighting at UFC 212 in his home country (Via MMAJunkie.com):
“I really wanted to fight in Brazil, my country, but it’s not going to happen,” Silva said. “I want to apologize for this. I really wanted to fight here, but it didn’t happen. I think I was hurt in this, but that’s it.”
In recent weeks, Silva, who is coming off of a decision victory over Derek Brunson in the co-main event of UFC 208 this past February in Brooklyn, has made headlines voicing his displeasure towards the way he has been treated by the UFC. He has even went as far to say that he’d be willing to retire, which led White to say that he ‘probably’ should.
As of now, “The Spider” claims that he’s done, although it’s unclear what his next move will be:
“I’m very disappointed,” Silva said at the occasion. “The guys don’t respect my legacy, don’t respect my story in the sport. I don’t know. I’m done.”
Gastelum, who had his latest win over Belfort overturned due to his failed drug test, recently accepted a three month suspension from the Brazilian Superior Justice Court of MMA. Prior to his fight with Belfort, Gastelum had won back-to-back fights over the likes of Johny Hendricks and Tim Kennedy, while appearing to be settling into his new home a 185 pounds.
He has, however, expressed interest in fighting Silva at UFC on FOX 25 on July 22, 2017 at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island when his suspension is up. Would you like to see the UFC re-book a bout between “The Spider” and Gastelum, or do you expect the Brazilian legend to hang up his gloves for good?
