Anderson Silva and Kelvin Gastelum were supposed to meet earlier this year in Brazil. After Gastelum was pulled from the card due to a drug test failure for marijuana, Silva threatened retirement, but now that the dust has settled, it appears that the two aren’t done with each other just yet. That’s according to a report from FloCombat, who were the first to report that the pairing is being eyed for the UFC’s debut in mainland China later this year. That would be UFC Fight Night 122 in Shanghai, to be exact.
Silva (34–8 (1)) has not fought since defeating Derek Brunson at UFC 208 this past February. The 42-year old legend scored his first victory since 2012 that night, but the win was not without its critics, despite coming by way of unanimous decision.
Gastelum (13–3 (1)), meanwhile, took a fight against Chris Weidman after the original UFC 212 pairing fell through. He lost that fight (at UFC on Fox 25) by submission in the third round.
Since moving up to middleweight, the former Ultimate Fighter winner has gone 2-1 with one no contest against Vitor Belfort (the original win was overturned due to the aforementioned failed drug test). In that stretch he also won a catchweight bout against Johny Hendricks at UFC 200, and lost a Fight of the Night effort to Neil Magny at welterweight. Against The Spider, however, Gastelum will be sticking to 185lbs.
UFC Fight Night 122 takes place November 25 in Shanghai, China at the Mercedes-Benz Arena.
