After the initial furore over Anderson Silva stepping in to face Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 following Jon Jones' removal from the card, it was time for the pair to weigh in ahead of their clash on Saturday.
Per MMAFighting's Chuck Mindenhall, the fight will no longer be a title bout for the UFC light heavyweight title but rather a three-round affair that no longer has top billing at the event.
Nevertheless, with the popular Brazilian agreeing to face him, there's still plenty of potential for excitement.
At the weigh-in, Cormier needed the towel but made the grade at 206 pounds, per Christian Tetzpa Gil on Twitter:
Meanwhile, the Spider came in a full seven-and-a-half pounds lighter than his opponent:
According to Mindenhall, Cormier expressed his gratitude to Silva for allowing him to compete on the UFC 200 card and believes he will still need to be at the top of his game despite his opponent's lack of preparation:
I am honored to share the Octagon with the one of the greatest fighters of all time. 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 [president] Dana White and the UFC for making this happen. Now let's go do this.
Meanwhile, per MMA Fighting, Silva said via an interpreter: "I think this is a personal challenge for me. I've been through a lot in my UFC career and this is a new time for me—I need to enjoy this. Not to underestimate him, not to disrespect the champion, but I'm in here win or lose, and I want to come in here and challenge myself."
Per Damon Martin of Fox Sports, he believes he can give a good account of himself despite having no time to prepare: "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."
You can see the footage of the two fighters squaring up here:
MMAJunkie's Chamatkar Sandhu said a victory here would earn Silva a title bout, which White confirmed was a possibility, per MMAFighting:
Indeed, he certainly won't be lacking for motivation when the pair step into the Octagon to face each other.
Bleacher Report's Patrick Wyman is eagerly anticipating the clinches that await:
However, the Spider will undoubtedly be up against it after coming in at the last minute against a much heavier opponent.
As ESPN's Reed Kuhn noted, DC should be well-prepared to take on a fighter like Silva, who should pose much less of a challenge than Jones would have:
It's safe to say that Bleacher Report's Jonathan Snowden and Bloody Elbow's Iain Kidd are expecting a wholly one-sided affair:
Indeed, aside from his since overturned unanimous decision win over Nate Diaz, Silva hasn't won since 2012 and looks seriously outmatched here.
Cormier's strength, larger frame and exceptional wrestling skills should make this a routine victory once he manages to take Silva to the mat.
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