UPDATED Uriah Hall Will not Fight at UFC 198; Neogotiations with Leonardo Leite Fall Through

With Anderson Silva being officially pulled from Saturday’s UFC 198 card in Curitiba, Brazil, the Ultimate Fighting Championship was searching for a late-replacement opponent to square off with Uriah Hall.

Legacy Fighting Championship middleweight champion Leonardo Leite was the first man tabbed to fill the hole left by Silva, who is recovering from gallbladder surgery performed Wednesday morning in Brazil.

“UFC invited me and I said yes right away. We stayed on the telephone until 3 a.m., but it seems Hall has not accepted yet,” Leite told Sherdog.com. “I’m ready and willing to fight; I’m just waiting for the official word.”

As it turned out, Hall did not accept the last-minute replacement and will not compete at UFC 198. Neither will Leite.

A three-time Pan American judo champion, Leite starred on the Brazilian national team for many years and also collected two gold medals in the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships. The 38-year-old is 7-0 in mixed martial arts, and has racked up four finishes.