Report: Daniel Cormier vs. Anderson Silva Confirmed For UFC 200
Updating a previous rumor that broke earlier today from Combate, light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will reportedly face all-time great former middleweight champion Anderson Silva at Saturday’s (July 9, 2016) UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The news was confirmed to TMZ by sources close to the situation. The bout will take place at light heavyweight and will be a three-round affair, meaning the championship will not be on the line.
Dana White confirmed the news on Twitter:
Cormier vs Silva!!! #UFC200 pic.twitter.com/c2QYsgEb68
— danawhite (@danawhite) July 8, 2016
White then introduced at the UFC Fight Night 90 post-fight presser, where Silva answered some questions for the media:
Cormier was famously supposed to take on heated rival Jon Jones in a rematch to unify the title, but the troubled “Bones” was unceremoniously removed from the bout with just days left until fight time after news broke last night that he potentially failed for two banned substances in an out of competition USADA test on June 16.
Illustrious former middleweight champion has been going through a proverbial downswing in his career right now without an official win since October 2012. The all-time great “Spider” was last seen losing a controversial decision to current champion Michael Bisping in February.
He’s fought at light heavyweight three times before in his UFC tenure, finishing Forrest Griffin, Stephan Bonnar, and James Irvin in his only bouts at 205. He’ll have his hands very full with the current champ, who has defeated Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson and Alexander Gustafsson in two consecutive title fights after losing to Jones the fight before.
