Gegard Mousasi formally challenges Anderson Silva to fight at UFC 199 or UFC 200

Gegard Mousasi has been making plenty of noise about his desire to fight Anderson Silva next. Now, he is officially throwing down the gauntlet.

In a statement released Wednesday to MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani, Mousasi's manager Nima Safapour formally laid down the challenge for Silva to meet Mousasi on either June 4 at UFC 199, or July 9 at UFC 200.

"All of the Brazilian media has been contacting us today about a potential Mousasi/Silva match-up in Brazil. It is an exciting idea as it will be a stadium show. However, the Curitiba card is right around the corner. Therefore, we need adequate time to put the camp together and prepare. We would gladly fight Anderson. However, a May date is too soon of a return. Had we known immediately after the London card then maybe. But that time has passed us, unfortunately. We will take the fight gladly. However, I think it would make more sense to have them fight either at UFC 199 in LA at the earliest, or alternatively, at UFC 200 in Vegas at the latest. Gegard wants to have the fastest turnaround possible while not compromising the organization and structure of his training camp. So the question should go back directly to Anderson on whether he accepts our challenge at either UFC 199 or UFC 200."

Both Mousasi and Silva are coming off recent performances at UFC Fight Night 84.

Mousasi (38-6-2) defeated Thales Leites via unanimous decision, while Silva (33-7, 1 NC) dropped a close decision to Michael Bisping in the night's main event.

Silva's trainer Rogerio Camoes this week told Sherdog.com that the legendary former UFC middleweight champion is angling for a fight against either Mousasi or Tim Kennedy at UFC 198, which takes places May 14 at a soccer stadium in Silva's hometown of Curitiba, Brazil.