Anderson Silva has officially been removed from the UFC 212 card.
“The Spider” was originally set to compete against Kelvin Gastelum inside the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 3. Gastelum was flagged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and was yanked from the card as a result.
Rumors began swirling on who Silva’s replacement opponent would be. Names such as Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero surfaced. In the end, there will be no replacement opponent for Silva.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) released a statement announcing “The Spider’s” removal from UFC 212:
“Following the April 6 removal of Kelvin Gastelum from his UFC 212 bout against Anderson Silva, UFC officials attempted to find a replacement to meet Silva on June 3. However an opponent was not secured to face the former middleweight champion on short notice, prompting his removal from the card at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Due to Anderson Silva’s withdrawal, customers may request a full refund of their purchased tickets until May 18, 2017.
To request a refund of a purchase made at the event box office or points of sale, the customer must return to the point of purchase with the original tickets. For credit card transactions, the refund will be credited to credit card statement. For debit card transactions, the refund will be credited to the account linked to the debit card used for the purchase.”
Silva has gone a few tirades against the UFC. He demanded an interim title shot and then claimed he was “done” after not having his request granted.
Let us know what you think will happen next for Silva in the comments below.
