Anderson Silva takes Jones’ place at UFC 200 vs Cormier

Silva replaces Jon Jones, whose light heavyweight fight with Cormier was suppose to headline UFC 200 until Jones was pulled from the card because of a failed drug test suspected to be for a performance-enhancing substance.

UFC 200, which boasts one of the most stacked cards in the promotion’s history, will cap days of events collectively dubbed International Fight Week that includes amateur championships, a fan expo and some of the sport’s biggest names in action.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“[Anderson Silva] came to Las Vegas today, he literally just finished his medical testing… we came to a deal, he signed a contract and now we have Daniel Cormier versus Anderson Silva…”

Now that Jones has been booted from Saturday’s former main event clash against Daniel Cormier, he will await test results that could determine how the rest of his career proceeds.

UFC president Dana White confirmed the news to ESPN on Thursday evening.

“Miesha is the woman who beat the woman who beat the woman”, White said of Tate, who defeated Holly Holm, who had won the title from Ronda Rousey.

While it may not be the main event title fight everyone has wanted for almost a year, it should still be a very entertaining fight for all to see this week. There’s nothing for me and Jon Jones to talk about…I haven’t, and I’m not going to.

It took seven years for someone to dethrone Silva as middleweight champion and he returns the cage just seven weeks after undergoing surgery to remove a gal bladder. “Guys go hard. They go through training camps and put lots of time in, and that’s where (Cormier) really gets the short end of the stick”.

Silva (33-7) hasn’t fought since he suffered a decision loss to Michael Bisping in February.

Despite naturally competing at middleweight, Silva has already fought twice in the light heavyweight division.

USADA will not confirm what substance or substances Jones tested for unless Jones or his team makes that information public first. It’s a great challenge through everything that I’ve done, through wins and defeats and everything.