UFC 197 News: UFC 197 Is Officially Announced for March 5 in Rio
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will be bringing its act back to Brazil with the official announcement of UFC 197 on March 5. The fight card is going to be held at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, in which the said event will be the sixth pay-per-view card for the UFC in the same venue.
The last time the fight promotion held an event in HSBC Arena was in 2011 for UFC 134, when then superstar Anderson Silva successfully defended his middleweight title against Yushin Okami via second round knockout.
But this isn't the first visit for the UFC this year in Rio de Janeiro. Women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey impressed in her Brazilian debut against homegrown talent Bethe Correia in August when she knocked out the challenger in 34 seconds in the fight card's main event.
As of this posting, there has been no official word yet as to who will be part of the card for UFC 197, though there are several rumors saying that Vitor Belfort and Anderson Silva will be the main attraction.
It is also interesting if both fighters will come out facing each other because they've actually done so more than four years ago, when Silva knocked out Belfort at UFC 126. The same knockout became the ticket of Silva to stardom when he performed a front kick to the face of Belfort, knocking him out cold. The same kick also is regarded as one of the best in mixed martial arts history.
The rumor about Silva's inclusion for UFC 197 is still a matter of speculation because the Brazilian mixed martial artist is still serving his suspension after being found positive of anabolic steroids during a pre-fight drug screening for UFC 183. The suspension, though, is slated to end by January, which gives him more than enough time to train and be part of the pay-per-view event.
