Former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva was originally set to face Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 212, but Gastelum was pulled from the fight due to a potential USADA violation.
Despite rumors of Silva facing Ovince St. Preux in a catchweight fight, the former middleweight kingpin has instead given the UFC an ultimatum.
“The guys no give this fight for me for the interim belt, I’m done,” Silva said on The MMA Hour. “I’ll go be with my family. I’m done. I say, ‘OK, I go fight Yoel Romero.’ Because I know I respect Yoel Romero, he’s a great fighter. He’s No. 1 in the ranks. But one thing — why Yoel Romero come to Brazil for fight me for nothing?”
The current UFC Middleweight Champion is Michael Bisping and he will be defending the gold against Georges St. Pierre later this year, a date for their fight has yet to be announced.
While the UFC has yet to respond to the request from Silva, the man he challenged in Yoel Romero did call into the show to respond to what Silva had said.
“I fight only with Anderson for the interim belt,” Romero said. “If not for him, I wait for my time for the belt.”
UFC 212 takes place on Saturday, June 3 from the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil with Jose Aldo and Max Holloway headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
