Anderson Silva Removed From UFC 198
A highly-anticipated card just took a huge hit.
UFC heads to Curitiba, Brazil this Saturday, May 14th for an event that some are calling an even more stacked show than the milestone UFC 200. The card, emanating from the Arena da Baixada was originally intended as a free Fight Night headlined by a scrap between middleweight contenders Vitor Belfort and Ronaldo Souza. However, a series of cancellations led to the restructuring and renaming of the event.
In addition to the 185-pound eliminator bout, the card also features a main event of Fabricio Werdum making his first heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic, a light heavyweight showdown between veteran Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and rising star Corey Anderson and perhaps most interestingly the long-awaited UFC debut of female mauler Cris Cyborg.
One fight that unfortunately won't be taking place at the event was the exciting match-up featuring hometown hero Anderson "The Spider" Silva stepping inside the cage with Uriah Hall. The former middleweight kingpin was forced to withdraw from the bout due to complications with his gall bladder which ultimately resulted in him having immediate surgery to remove it just days before the fight was to take place.
For viewers of UFC Embedded, Silva's excitement to be fighting in his home of Curitiba was evident, and the decision to pull out had to be a difficult but unavoidable one. Anyone who has ever struggled with gall bladder issues knows there's no "toughing it out."
The UFC was unable to secure a suitable replacement for Uriah Hall, causing him to be removed from the card as well and shifting Warlley Alves vs. Bryan Barberena up to the pay-per-view portion of the show in its place.