Anderson Silva was close to saving UFC 151.

According to UFC president Dana White, Silva relayed a message through his manager Ed Soares just moments after White announced on Thursday that UFC 151 was canceled after Jon Jones turned down a fight against Chael Sonnen. The middleweight champion, who admitted he wasn't in the best shape, volunteered to fight on eight days' notice in Las Vegas against another light heavyweight fighter. Unfortunately, he was a few hours late as the promotion had already decided to scrap the event.

White said he never expected Silva to offer his services and appreciated the offer.

Jones will now meet Vitor Belfort for the light heavyweight title on Sept. 22 in Toronto after Lyoto Machida turned down the fight due to not having enough time to train.