Anderson Silva shuts down Belfort and Rockhold, has two opponents in mind for UFC 212
Former UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva was slated to square off with surging division contender Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 212 on June 3 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Unfortunately for fight fans, news broke last week that Gastelum had been pulled from the event, this after he was flagged for potentially testing positive for marijuana metabolites stemming from an in-competition drug test conducted by USADA.
The drug test was apparently collected in conjunction with Gastelum’s victory over Vitor Belfort, which came at last month’s UFC Fight Night 106 event in Brazil.
Since that time a number of UFC middleweights have offered to step up and fight “The Spider”, including top division contender Yoel Romero and former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold.
In addition to that, rumors circulated earlier today that a potential rematch with Vitor Belfort was in the cards for Silva’s octagon return at UFC 212.
However, while speaking with the media during today’s UFC 212 press conference Silva stated that he is not interested in fights with Vitor Belfort or Luke Rockhold.
Anderson Silva not interested in fighting Luke Rockhold because he's coming off a loss.
— Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) April 11, 2017
“Anderson Silva not interested in fighting Luke Rockhold because he’s coming off a loss.”
And that's the same reason why he's not interested in fighting Vitor Belfort.
— Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) April 11, 2017
“And that’s the same reason why he’s not interested in fighting Vitor Belfort.”
With that said, Silva dropped the names of two potential opponents for the June 3 pay-per-view event.
Anderson Silva says Nick Diaz is an interesting fight, and also a possibility for UFC 212.
— Guilherme Cruz (@guicruzzz) April 11, 2017
“Anderson Silva says Nick Diaz is an interesting fight, and also a possibility for UFC 212.”
Anderson Silva says Yoel Romero "would be interesting" for him to fight at UFC 212: "We'll have to wait for the UFC and see what happens."
— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohnMMA) April 11, 2017
“Anderson Silva says Yoel Romero ‘would be interesting’ for him to fight at UFC 212: ‘We’ll have to wait for the UFC and see what happens.’”
Anderson Silva recently re-entered the middleweight contendership picture with a controversial decision defeat of Derek Brunson. The win marked Silva’s first since a 2012 light heavyweight defeat of Stephan Bonnar.
Who would you prefer to see Anderson Silva fight at UFC 212, Nick Diaz or Yoel Romero? Sound off PENN Nation!