Anderson Silva is set to return to the Octagon at UFC 208 in February.
The former champion is dropped back-to-back unanimous decisions to current middleweight titleholder Michael Bisping and light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier in 2016. Silva’s last recorded victory was in 2012.
He’ll face No. 8-ranked middleweight contender Derek Brunson at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Brunson (16–4) had a five-fight winning streak snapped by Robert Whittaker in November.
UFC president Dana White made the announcement on Twitter Friday evening.
Silva’s addition adds some much-needed star power to a card being criticized for its dearth of high-intrigue fights.
Here’s what UFC 208’s tentative 14-fight lineup currently looks like:
— Holly Holm vs. Germaine de Randamie
— Anderson Silva vs. Derek Brunson
— Ronaldo “Jacaré” Souza vs. Tim Boetsch
— Travis Browne vs. Derrick Lewis
— Glover Teixeira vs. Jared Cannonier
— Dustin Poirier vs. Jim Miller
— Ryan LaFlare vs. Roan Carneiro
— Paul Felder vs. Gilbert Burns
— Nik Lentz vs. Islam Makhachev
— Ian McCall vs. Neil Seery
— Marcin Tybura vs. Luis Henrique
— Wilson Reis vs. Ulka Sasaki
— Phillipe Nover vs. Rick Glenn
— George Sullivan vs. Randy Brown
