Anderson Silva to face Michael Bisping Feb. 27 in London on UFC Fight Pass
Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will return from a year-long suspension for using performance enhancing drugs when he meets Michael Bisping in London on Feb. 27 in a bout that will be live streamed on UFC Fight Pass.
Silva admitted taking two banned substances, Oxazepam and Temazepam, following his Jan. 31, 2015, victory over Nick Diaz in Las Vegas. He was also caught with the anabolic steroid drostanolone. He denied taking an anabolic steroid, but told the Nevada Athletic Commission he took a substance he believed to be Cialis that was given to him to by an unidentified friend in Thailand to help with sexual performance.
He was suspended for a year and fined $380,000.
UFC president Dana White told Yahoo Sports via text message that the company plans to put several big fights on its streaming service in 2016.
Silva, who will be two months shy of his 41st birthday when he meets Bisping, had the win over Diaz turned to a no contest after his positive test. Diaz also tested positive for marijuana.
Prior to the fight with Diaz at UFC 183, Silva had suffered back-to-back losses to Chris Weidman in middleweight title fights. In the second of those, he suffered a gruesome broken leg that appeared at the time would end his career.
Bisping will be fighting the day before he turns 37. The bout is a big one for him as he needs an emphatic victory to put him into title consideration. Bisping has been with the UFC for nearly 10 years, but has yet to fight for a championship.
He's won three of his last four, besting Cung Le, C.B. Dollaway and Thales Leites, with the only defeat coming against Luke Rockhold, now the middleweight champion, on Nov. 7, 2014, in Australia.
"I love it," Bisping told Yahoo Sports. "I always wanted to fight him, and I'm confident I will beat him. When I do that, I will have won four of my last five with my only loss coming to Rockhold, so I'll be pushing for the rematch."
