Anderson Silva vs Jared Cannonier Official for UFC 237 in Brazil
Anderson Silva has only competed twice in the last two years but is now looking towards his second fight in three months.
Silva is more than happy to fight in this short time period, especially as the venue is located in his home country Brazil. “The Spider” has not fought on home turf in more than seven years where he defeated UFC Hall of Famer Stephan Bonnar at UFC 153.
This quick turnaround could prove very costly for Silva if he was to suffer another defeat. “The Spider” displayed in his recent performance against talented up and comer, Israel Adesanya, that he can still go toe to toe with the best fighters despite being 43 years of age.
Silva made it quite clear who he wanted next. He called out Nick Diaz to a rematch in his post-fight interview at UFC 234. Sadly, this bout was not successful. Diaz recently made it quite clear that he is not interested in returning to the cage anytime soon which left fans disappointed not able to witness these two veterans go to war for a second time.
So, who decides to be brave enough and step up to take on “The Spider” in his home country at UFC 237?
Jared Cannonier jumped to the opportunity when presented with the former UFC Champion and legend to the sport.
Cannonier has encountered numerous ups and downs in his UFC career winning only four of eight fights. In Cannonier’s defense, his losses came at the hands of the top fighters in the Light Heavyweight division such as Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira.
Cannonier is currently coming off the biggest win of his career. On Nov.3, 2018 Cannonier made his debut in the Middleweight division against the former World Series of Fighting Middleweight and Light Heavyweight champion, David Branch. Cannonier stepped in the cage with his back against the wall, coming off a two-fight losing streak but showed his heart and determination defeating Branch via TKO in the second round.
This perfect start to his Middleweight journey has now led him to the biggest fight and test of his career. Cannonier has demonstrated he is highly capable of competing against top level opposition and moving down in weight could prove his best decision.
I have read fans commenting that Cannonier is being “thrown to the wolves” for the entertainment purposes but I can ensure you, don’t count out Jared Cannonier. The “hype” may currently be around Silva’s return to the cage but don’t be fooled. Just look what happened to highly anticipated return of Cain Velasquez last weekend against Francis Ngannou.
