With all of the changes being made to this May’s upcoming UFC 146 event, there is bound to be some uncertainty, especially if your former UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez or his opponent Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva.
Velasquez had been scheduled to face Frank Mir in a No. 1 contender bout in the co-main event of the Memorial Day weekend event, but with Mir moving up to face champ Junior dos Santos, Velasquez is now scheduled to meet Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva. Silva meanwhile, had been set to meet Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson, with Nelson now set to face Gabriel Gonzaga on the pay-per-view card.
The question for Velasquez and Silva, is their match a No. 1 contender bout or not.
Neither Javier Mendez, who coaches Velasquez at the American Kickboxing Academy, nor ‘Bigfoot’s’ manager Alex Davis have been told. Both men explain the situation to Mauro Ronallo on Monday’s episode of ‘The MMA Show with Mauro Ronallo‘.
“I don’t even know if this takes us out of the No. 1 spot, I don’t know,” said Javier Mendez, Velasquez’ trainer at the American Kickboxing Academy. “The view where we’re at, we were in the No. 1 status position if we beat Frank Mir. Now we’re up in the air if it is considered that or not. I’d like to logically think it would be considered, but it’s hard to say.”
Silva’s camp echoed the words of Velasquez’ in regards as to if the new matchup is a title eliminator.
“That hasn’t been told to us yet — I mean, nobody’s said that — but I would say that if ‘Bigfoot’ beats Cain he will make a huge statement and it will definitely put him right there in line somewhere,” said Alex Davis, the manager of Silva.
“(The UFC) had the option of bringing Werdum in or bumping ‘Bigfoot’ up, but with the problems in Brazil, for them to take Werdum off that card — if it’s losing Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen — I kind of expected it,” Davis said of Silva filling the co-main event slot. “I don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand (Bigfoot) was one of their best options.”