Anderson faces Bisping in the main fight of UFC London, in February

Anderson and Bisping face each other in February. Photo: Disclosure

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Now it's official. The UFC announced this Thursday (24) the return of Anderson Silva to the octagon. It will take place on February 27th, in London, England, in the main fight of UFC Fight Night 83. Your opponent will be the local athlete Michael Bisping.

The announcement is surprising, as everything indicated that Anderson and Bisping had different plans. The Englishman was confirmed to face Gegard Mousasi at the same event, while Anderson was linked to a fight against Vitor belfort in March, in Rio de Janeiro.

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Anderson, 40 years old, will be looking for his first victory since 2012, as, since then, he has suffered two defeats (to Chris Weidman) it is a no-contest against Nick Diaz after being caught in an anti-doping test. Bisping, in turn, comes from two consecutive victories, over CB Dollaway and Thales leites.

The Brazilian fighter, middleweight champion between 2006 and 2013, is suspended for doping until February 1st. In his most recent fight, against Diaz, “Spider” had anabolic and anxiolytic substances detected in his body. At his trial, Anderson claimed that he took a sleeping pill the day before the fight and that the anabolic substances were the result of contamination when ingesting a sexual stimulant brought by a friend from Thailand.

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Return to the successful stage

Anderson Silva will return to fight in England after almost ten years. Even before joining the UFC, “Spider” achieved important achievements on the English scene, with the title of the now-defunct Cage Rage organization. Between 2004 and 2006, Anderson had four fights in London, winning them all.

Bisping also has a good record fighting in England, his home country. For the UFC alone, the athlete has already had six fights in the country and won all of them. The most recent was in October 2010, when he beat Yoshihiro Akiyama in the main fight of UFC 120, in the same gym where he will face Anderson next year.

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