Tuesday afternoon, it was announced that Anderson Silva, the #7-ranked UFC middleweight and widely regarded as the greatest of all time, will look to capture his second consecutive win against #10-ranked middleweight Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 212 in Brazil.
Just confirmed Anderson Silva vs. Kelvin Gastelum is official for UFC 212 on June 3. First reported in Brazil.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) March 14, 2017
The fight announcement comes after Gastelum’s promising first round knockout over former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort.
“I started a legend’s ass-whooping tour, and I want to finish it. June 3rd, I want to go against Anderson [Silva], maybe in Rio — who knows.” said Gastelum in his post-fight interview with Brian Stann.
It didn’t take long for the UFC to respond to Gastelum’s request, as it only took the promotion three days to make the fight official.
Silva’s last fight was a unanimous decision win over Derek Brunson – a decision that many found controversial, including UFC President Dana White. Brunson also made aware of his displeasure after providing an image on Twitter showing his superior stats from the fight. Despite that, a win for Silva over Gastelum could be very beneficial for ‘The Spider’s’ career. Since 2013, Silva has only won one fight, having lost four fights and one no contest. If Silva can beat both Brunson and Gastelum in the same year, it could propel Silva into title contention.
A win for Gastelum could be just as beneficial. Currently, Gastelum is ranked three spots lower than Silva. If Gastelum wants to contend for a title anytime soon, defeating Silva is a necessity.
