With injuries ravaging a bevy of the UFC’s late spring cards, the world’s biggest MMA promotion has taken it upon itself to do some strategic maneuvering to round out three pivotal upcoming cards.
And not surprisingly, the long-awaited (and perhaps overhyped) Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva bout, which was originally set for May 24’s UFC 173 in Las Vegas and then switched to the headlining bout at May 31’s The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 Finale, has now been moved again, this time to the co-main event slot of UFC 175 on July 5.
That means that the verbally agreed-upon light heavyweight showdown between Daniel Cormier and Dan Henderson might receive third billing at UFC 175, an interesting choice for sure.
UFC 175 features a rescheduled championship showdown between middleweight champ Chris Weidman and Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, a bout that was originally slated for UFC 173, but also rescheduled after Weidman went down with multiple (although apparently not all that limiting) knee surgeries.
In its place now stands a bantamweight title affair between dominant champion Renan Barao and surprising challenger T.J. Dillashaw. As far as UFC 173’s co-main event, well, that’s up in the air because the original bout of Junior dos Santos vs. Stipe Miocic has now been moved to the main event of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 Finale to replace Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva.
The booking leaves a gaping void in UFC 173, but we may have a new co-main event quite soon. This evening, UFC President Dana White told Yahoo! Sports, “I’m not done working on that card,” insinuating that another bout will be added in the vacant co-headliner slot.
No official word has arrived as to just whom that bout may feature.
That’s a whole lot of rearranging, and given how crazy 2014 has already been for the UFC, we probably haven’t seen the end of it. As always, keep your eyes peeled on LowKick MMA for any and all developments as they arise.
Photo: Joe Camporeale for USA TODAY Sports
