Man, those April Fools’ Day jokes sure are hilarious … if you’re 8 years old. With fight fans panicking over the past couple of days on whether Alexander Gustafsson and his nasty gash will be cleared to compete Saturday at UFC on FUEL TV 9, 36-year-old Wanderlei Silva (pictured) took it upon himself to prank the MMA world on April 1.
“UFC news my guys fight Saturday [against Gegard Mousasi]!!! What you think? UFC just contact me about Saturday,” Silva tweeted Monday. “I am read I don’t have any injure and training a lot. Fight is fight!!!”
Well, it appears the joke was on us. Except “The Axe Murderer” is the only one laughing.
“I catch you wand the best April first ever!! But I would like this to be true!!!” Silva wrote Tuesday morning.
Silva even went on record to confirm the matchup with MMAWeekly less than 24 hours ago.
Quite the knee-slapper…
Word broke over the weekend that Gustafsson recently suffered a cut during training that put his critical bout with Mousasi in jeopardy. The UFC is still holding out hope that the Swedish Mixed Martial Arts Federation will clear “The Mauler” for Saturday’s the main event.
Mousasi hopped a plane destined for Sweden this morning, unsure of exactly who he’ll be staring across the cage at in four days.
The UFC has not addressed a Plan-B if Gustafsson is pulled. Here’s guessing Wandy is out of the question.
As the bout order currently stands, the lightweight tango between Ryan Couture and Ross Pearson will headline UFC on FUEL TV 9 if Gustafsson vs. Mousasi is shelved.
Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm hosts this weekend’s festivities.
Here is the show’s current lineup:
Preliminary Bouts:
(Facebook 10:50AM ET/7:50 AM PT)
Tor Troeng vs. Adam Cella
Papy Abedi vs. Besam Yousef
Michael Kuiper vs. Tom Lawlor
Ben Alloway vs. Ryan LaFlare
Conor McGregor vs. Marcus Brimage
Chris Spang vs. Adlan Amagov
Michael Johnson vs. Reza Madadi
Main Card:
(FUEL TV 2PM ET/11AM PT)
Akira Corassani vs. Robbie Peralta
Diego Brandao vs. Pablo Garza
Brad Pickett vs. Mike Easton
Matt Mitrione vs. Philip De Fries
Ryan Couture vs. Ross Pearson
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Gegard Mousasi