Anderson Silva is set to take on Uriah Hall at UFC 198 in a battle of two of MMA’s most dynamic strikers.
The UFC announced the bout on Twitter Thursday.
The event takes place at Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil, which is where the former UFC middleweight champion spent most of his childhood. Silva, who will be 41 in April, fought in Curitiba five times early in his career but hasn’t competed there in more than 14 years.
After starting his UFC career 16-0, Silva (33-7, 1 NC) is winless in his last four fights. He dropped back-to-back bouts against Chris Weidman in 2013, had a win over Nick Diaz overturned last year after failing a drug test and was recently upset by Michael Bisping on Feb. 27.
Silva lost a unanimous decision to Bisping in London on Feb. 27 and was critical of the judging afterwards. Despite the loss, Silva had a strong performance and showed he’s still more than capable of pulling off some high-level techniques.
Hall (12-6) is coming off a decision loss to rising middleweight contender Robert Whittaker. It seems whenever Hall fights he either comes up just short on the scorecards or finishes his opponent in remarkable fashion – like he did when he fought Gegard Mousasi in September.
In addition to Silva vs. Hall, UFC 198 is headlined by a heavyweight title fight between champion Fabricio Werdum and challenger Stipe Miocic. Here is a look at how the impressive fight card is shaping up:
— Fabricio Werdum vs. Stipe Miocic
— Ronaldo Souza vs. Vitor Belfort
— Anderson Silva vs. Uriah Hall
— Maurício Rua vs. Corey Anderson
— Demian Maia vs. Matt Brown
— Patrick Cummins vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
— Warlley Alves vs. Bryan Barberena
— Francisco Trinaldo vs. Yancy Medeiros
— Thiago Santos vs. Nate Marquardt
— Sergio Moraes vs. Kamaru Usman
— Renato Moicano vs. Zubaira Tukhugov
