UFC 234 News: Bellator allow Chael Sonnen to fight Anderson Silva; Cowboy Cerrone offers to step in

What's the story?

UFC found themselves in trouble before UFC 234: Whittaker vs Gastelum for the simple reason that their main event had to be canceled following an injury suffered by the UFC Middleweight Champion.

With Whittaker backing away from the headliner in the main event, and UFC lacking any time to make another fight, they were left without too many options for the main event.

However, even if they were lacking in options, Bellator and one of their own fighters stepped for possible replacements for Robert Whittaker.

In case you didn't know...

In the buildup to UFC 234, Robert Whittaker was able to make weight for the pay-per-view in what would be his first title defense since winning the Middleweight Championship.

However, overnight he developed symptoms and started feeling ill ahead of the event at Rod Laver Arena. He had to be taken to the hospital where he was immediately diagnosed with a hernia and had to undergo surgery.

This was not the first time that he was not able to defend his Middleweight Title, with two occasions before, where his planned Middleweight Title defenses had to be canceled -- once due to injuries, and the other time due to Yoel Romero failing to make weight.

The heart of the matter

UFC did not have much of an opportunity to get a replacement main event for their UFC 234 headliner after Robert Whittaker had to back away.

Whatever else be the case, it was not because they were lacking choices.

'Cowboy' Donald Cerrone immediately threw his hat in the Octagon with a tweet saying he was in Australia and that he could take part in the main event on short notice if needed.

Well I’m in Australia @danawhite “ I know a guy!! “

— Cowboy Cerrone (@Cowboycerrone) February 9, 2019

However, there was another option waiting for Dana White, as Chael Sonnen appeared on Ariel Helwani's MMA Show, where he said that Bellator MMA had given him permission to step into the fight and face Anderson Silva if UFC wanted Israel Adesanya to face Kelvin Gastelum.

On ESPN Radio, @ChaelSonnen tells @arielhelwani that Bellator has given him permission to step in and face Anderson Silva if the UFC wants to do Kelvin Gastelum vs. Israel Adesanya.Chael says that he requires a mouthpiece, gloves and an XXXL size cup.

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) February 9, 2019

Naturally, Sonnen did not lose the opportunity to make a joke about his groin size.

What's next?

While both offers sound nice, it appears that there was too little time for UFC to make something of this.

Instead, Anderson Silva and Israel Adesanya are facing each other in the main event, where previously they had been scheduled for the co-main event.

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