Anderson Silva out of UFC 198, might need gallbladder removed

Anderson Silva has pulled out of his UFC 198 showdown vs. Uriah Hall due to severe abdominal pain that may require the removal of his gall bladder.

Anderson Silva has pulled out of his UFC 198 showdown vs. Uriah Hall due to severe abdominal pain that may require the removal of his gall bladder.

Published on Tuesday, 5/10/16, at 10:59 p.m. Eastern.
Updated on Wednesday, 5/11/16, at 12:58 a.m. Eastern.

Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva has been forced to pull out of Saturday’s middleweight showdown vs. Uriah Hall at UFC 198 in his hometown of Curitiba, Brazil. The former 185-pound kingpin has been experiencing abdominal pain that may require surgery to remove his gall bladder.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports first reported the story two hours ago.

Jeff Davidson, the UFC’s medical consultant, told Iole, “Anderson developed abdominal discomfort [Monday and] further evaluation today is consistent with acute cholecystitis. He will be seen by a surgeon today for possible surgery.”

According to Iole, the UFC is currently looking for a replacement to face Hall, who had been listed as a short underdog against Silva. The 41-year-old Silva was looking to bounce back from his unanimous-decision loss to Michael Bisping at UFC London. In his last four fights, he has three losses and one no-contest.

This is the first time Silva has withdrawn from a fight in his 20-fight tenure with the UFC.

Fabricio Werdum and Stipe Miocic will headline the show when they meet for the heavyweight championship.

In other news Tuesday, an ESPN report indicated that the UFC is in talks to sell the company for somewhere in the neighborhood of $3.5 to $4 billion. Dan White denied the accuracy of the story to Iole, telling him, “We’re not for sale.”

ESPN’s report indicated that there are five bidders for the promotion that was bought in 2001 for just $2 million.

Then early Wednesday morning, BJPenn.com reported that Dennis Siver has pulled out of his UFC 199 fight with B.J. Penn due to an injury. The UFC is looking for a new opponent for Penn, who is coming out of retirement and training in Albuquerque at Jackson-Winklejohn Academy.

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