At UFC 234 earlier this month, we saw the return of the middleweight division’s all-time finest competitor, Anderson Silva (34-9).
Having fought for the first time since February 2017 when he faced off with Israel Adesanya at UFC 234, ‘The Spider’ is ready to turn things right around and get back at it.
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto has confirmed that at UFC 237 on May 11 in Curitiba, Brazil, Silva will take on the emerging middleweight contender Jared Cannonier (11-4).
Update: According to Combate, the event has been relocated from Curitiba to Rio De Janeiro.
“Breaking: Anderson Silva (34-9) will face Jared Cannonier (11-4) at UFC 237 on May 11 in Brazil, per UFC president Dana White. Silva just dropped a decision to Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC 234 earlier this month, and said he wanted to be on the Brazil card.” Okamoto tweeted.
As surprising as this fight being made is by itself, it may be all the more surprising after Cannonier was recently linked to a bout with Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza for the very same event.
However, things can change very quickly in the world of MMA.
For Cannonier, this will be only his second career bout at 185-pounds after dropping from light heavyweight.
In his divisional debut, he earned a big upset by knocking out David Branch in the second round of their UFC 230 short notice clash.
Silva and Cannonier should actually have some brief familiarity as the two men both fought at UFC 208 together when Silva defeated Derek Brunson by unanimous decision while Cannonier would taste defeat at the hands of Glover Teixeira.
As for the rest of the UFC’s return to Brazil event that is UFC 237, it continues to take shape with the addition of this middleweight match-up. Here’s what else is currently in store.
- Strawweight – 115lbs: (C)Rose Namajunas vs Jessica Andrade
- Light heavyweight – 205lbs: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs Ryan Spann
- Bantamweight – 135lbs: Irene Aldana vs Bethe Correia
Learn how to watch UFC 237 here
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/20/2019