The heavyweight chain reaction now affects Roy Nelson. On Sunday afternoon, UFC president Dana White announced Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva has been pulled from his fight against “Big Country” and will now face Cain Velasquez (Pictured) at UFC 146.
Silva received the bump because Velasquez’s original opponent, Frank Mir, was promoted to the show’s main attraction against champion Junior dos Santos. As everybody knows by now, Alistair Overeem started the domino effect after he flunked his pre-fight drug test.
Velasquez vs. Mir was initially pegged as a top contender contest. No word if that moniker is still up for grabs with this new arrangement.
White did not report where this leaves Nelson. However, it’s likely they’ll keep the veteran in the May 26th lineup and find him a new nemesis.
Velasquez lost his hardware to dos Santos the last time he took the cage. The November knockout defeat is the only blemish on the 29-year-old’s résumé.
Silva was last seen unconscious on the Strikeforce canvas courtesy of Daniel Cormier. Bigfoot had rattled off three consecutive victories prior to the September loss, which was spotlighted by a TKO win over Fedor Emelianenko.
UFC 146 takes place inside MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Here is the card’s revised roster:
Preliminary Card:
Mike Brown vs. Daniel Pineda
Dan Hardy vs. Duane Ludwig
Glover Teixeira vs. Kyle Kingsbury
(FX 8PM ET/5PM PT)
Paul Sass vs. Jacob Volkmann
Jason “Mayhem” Miller vs. C.B. Dollaway
Edson Barboza vs. Evan Dunham
Diego Brandao vs. Darren Elkins
Main Card:
(Pay-Per-View 10PM ET/7PM PT)
Roy Nelson vs. TBD
Stephan Struve vs. Mark Hunt
Shane Del Rosario vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva
Frank Mir vs. Junior dos Santos (UFC Heavyweight Champion)
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