In one of the wildest days of match making in the sport’s history, UFC Interim light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was pulled from the UFC 200 fight with champion Daniel Cormier, and replaced with Anderson Silva. So the pound for pound best fighter in the UFC was out, and the pound for pound best fighter in the UFC ever was in.
Silva had gall bladder surgery in mid May, some seven weeks ago. And he is 41. And he is a legend.
“I think I’m in good shape and I don’t want Daniel or anyone else to think that I’m underestimating him or coming in here to try to challenge a champion,” said Silva through a translator on Thursday, to Shaun Al-Shatti for MMA Fighting. “I’m not doing any of that. I’m here to challenge myself, and I think that I haven’t trained in a few months, but I think that I’m in good condition to go in there and put on a good fighting.”
Silva conceded he “wasn’t really training that hard” but noted that he had a sparring session on Wednesday and was “ready for war.”
Silva also described the circumstances around his surgery.
“The day before I was supposed to go travel to fight, I was all alone at home and I thought I was going to die when I started feeling sick,” said Silva. “I was something that I didn’t expect to happen, and I had to back out from the fight in Curitiba, which is something that I’ve always really wanted. But this is a new beginning for me. A lot of people think that I’m towards my end, but I think that this is a new beginning for me.”
UFC president Dana White revealed that it was Silva who reached out to the UFC about the fight, and that he wanted three rounds, and that he would not be surprised if Silva won. Further, Silva’s ultimate goal is a rematch with Michael Bisping.
“Let me tell you what, we just walked in here from a fight that just ended in the first round,” White said. “The way that Eddie just finished dos Anjos, anything can happen in this sport. Bisping came in on 11 days and knocked out Luke Rockhold, who destroyed him in their first fight. Anything is possible in a fight.”
“Believe me, we talked about [making the fight five rounds]. If Anderson comes in and would stop Cormier in the first three rounds, I mean, it would be for the title. But Anderson’s philosophy was, ‘listen, if I beat Daniel Cormier, people are going know I’m the guy anyway.’ But, it’s a little bit better getting that belt. We have to agree to disagree on that one. He wants to fight three rounds. He’s coming in and Anderson is giving Daniel the opportunity to fight, to make money, and to perform on UFC 200. So if Anderson wants two rounds, we’ll give him two rounds.”
The three candidates to replace Jones were Gegard Mousasi, Dan Henderson, and Silva. Mousasi was fighting already. White said the league already had plans for Hendo, which would indicate a rematch with middleweight champion Michael Bisping. So if Bisping beats Hendo, expect the following fight to be vs. Anderson Silva.
