This week has been a rollercoaster ride for light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who was at the depths of despair on Wednesday night when he was first informed that his UFC 200 headlining fight with Jon Jones had been scrapped, and 24 hours later learned that he’d now be fighting Anderson Silva on just 48 hours notice.
It must be a lot to take on-board, but the good news is that ‘DC’ gets to remain on the historic card, and won’t miss out on the biggest payday of his career so far.
“I am honored to share the Octagon with the one of the greatest fighters of all time,” Cormier said in a statement. “This is a very tough fight for me, and I have to fight smart and to do my best in order to win this fight. Thank you Anderson for stepping up, and thanks to Dana White and the UFC for making this happen. Now let’s go do this.”
According to Dana White, Cormier had requested that the fight be fought at 210lbs, presumably because his weight-cutting schedule had been disrupted after the revalation that Jones had been removed from the fight due to an anti-doping violation.
However, Silva insisted that the fight be at 205lbs since he’s moving up from middleweight on short notice, and Dana White agreed with that.
Cormier’s light-heavyweight belt won’t be on the line tomorrow night in Las Vegas however, with the fight being scheduled as a three round, non-title bout instead.
