A dramatic twist in the UFC 200 tale means Daniel Cormier will now face Anderson Silva on Saturday after Jon Jones was pulled from the card due to a potential doping violation.
ESPN's Brett Okamoto reported on Thursday that Bones' violation had led to the cancellation of his scheduled rematch opposite Cormier—although he denies any wrongdoing—and SportsCenter confirmed Silva as replacement on Friday:
Cormier may have been the underdog in his second bout against Jones, but the 37-year-old is now a firm favorite to beat Silva in their light heavyweight non-title matchup.
We provide a look at the latest odds for the newest addition to the UFC 200 card, as well as predictions and pre-fight Twitter hype leading up to what promises to be a memorable meeting in its own right.
Odds provided courtesy of Odds Shark.
Silva in Unfamiliar Territory
Despite having not officially won a fight in almost four years, Silva is still to this day seen by many as one of the most refined craftsman in his trade, hence why he's been given the late chance against DC.
In fact, Okamoto went one further in detailing just how long it's been since The Spider came into a bout as the less favored fighter, with Cormier the clear pick to extend his win streak to three on the bounce:
Silva, 41, isn't the type of fighter to fall particularly out of shape at any point in his calendar, but it will be of some intrigue to see how fit the Brazilian is on such short notice, with BT Sport UFC illustrating a whirlwind 24 hours in mixed martial arts:
Per Damon Martin of Fox Sports, the veteran even admitted he isn't in especially good shape for this meeting, having not trained for some months:
I don't want Daniel or anyone else to think I'm underestimating him or coming in here trying to challenge a champion. 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 I'm in good condition to go in there and put on a good fight.
Underdog or not, Silva tends to fulfill expectations on his part, but if wrestling specialist Cormier can take Saturday's clash to the ground, the difference in stamina could become all too evident.
Silva's striking will stand out as the superior of the two, but as Fox Sports' Francisco X. Rivera touched upon, it's been a long time since The Spider has had to take on a light heavyweight force:
Cormier to Edge Fight of the Night
Including the unanimous-decision defeat to Jones of 18 months ago, Cormier has gone the distance in four of his last seven fights overall, with his most recent being a split-decision win over Alexander Gustafsson.
Despite coming to Las Vegas with a two-win run under his belt, however, DC will still be wary of a foe whom Chamatkar Sandhu of MMA Junkie pointed out has plenty to play for come Saturday:
Many might count Silva as unfortunate not to have notched a knockout victory over Michael Bisping back in February, and it's possible the Spider could have another crack at The Count depending on Saturday's outcome, per MMA Fighting:
That being said, Cormier proved himself capable of keeping another threatening striker, Jones, at distance for much of their 2015 bout, and Silva may struggle to maintain a prolonged assault on such short notice.
One can easily see this going the whole way, with Cormier edging another split decision against tricky opposition, with an aged Silva perhaps left clutching at what could have been, just as he was against Bisping.
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