Less than two months after announcing a pay-per-view event in Rio de Janeiro on March 5, the UFC has decided to change plans.
Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva revealed the news on a conference call Tuesday, and MMAFighting.com confirmed it with sources close to the promotion.
"(The plan) was to have me fighting in Brazil against I don’t know who," Silva said, "but with this situation going on in Brazil, economically and everything, the UFC decided to abort this event for now."
Silva, who was considered one of the options for the main event of UFC 197 at the HSBC Arena in March, will now face Michael Bisping at a UFC Fight Pass card in London on Feb.