Rising Brazilian welterweight Erick Silva is set to fight in the UFC in his native country for the third time as he will take on former No. 1 contender Jon Fitch at UFC 153.
The UFC has not officially confirmed the matchup but Wallid Ismail, who is Silva’s manager, made the announcement on his Twitter account.
Silva (14-2, 1 NC) is coming off a Submission of the Night performance over Charlie Brenneman in June. The 28-year-old former Jungle Fight welterweight champion burst into the UFC with a 40-second knockout of Luis Ramos at UFC 134. His only loss since 2006 was a controversial disqualification at UFC 142 for illegal strikes to the back of Carlo Prater’s head.
Fitch (23-4-1, 1 NC) is coming off the longest winless streak of his career after fighting BJ Penn to a majority draw at UFC 127 and getting knocked out by Johny Hendricks in just nine seconds at UFC 141. Fitch — who at one point in his career had won 21 of 22 fights — has not picked up a win since his unanimous decision victory over Thiago Alves at UFC 117 in August of 2010.
Many argued that the UFC’s last trip to Brazil, UFC 147 in June, was an underwhelming card that lacked star power. UFC 153, which takes place in Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 13, is shaping up to be a star-studded affair however.
Here is a look at the expected fight card to date:
— Jose Aldo vs. Erik Koch (for UFC featherweight title)
— Alan Belcher vs. Vitor Belfort
— Quinton Jackson vs. Glover Teixeira
— Jon Fitch vs. Erick Silva
— Rony Mariano Bezerra vs. Sam Sicilia
— Sergio Moraes vs. Renee Forte
— Reza Madadi vs. Cristiano Marcello
— Diego Brandao vs. Joey Gambino
— Cezar Ferreira vs. TBA
In other UFC news:
The Ultimate Fighter 14 bantamweight champ John Dodson, who now competes at flyweight, is set to welcome one of the top 125-pounders in MMA, Jussier da Silva, to the UFC at UFC on FX 5. Dodson (13-5) is coming off a decision win over Tim Elliott at the UFC on FOX event in May and has won six of his last seven bouts.
Da Silva (14-1) was long considered the best flyweight in the sport until being defeated by Ian McCall last February. The Brazilian is the Shooto South America 123-pound champion and seven of his 14 wins have been by submission.
Also, TUF 14 featherweight winner Diego Brandao will meet Joey Gambino at UFC 153. Brandao (14-8) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Darren Elkins at UFC 146, while Gambino (9-1) is coming off a submission loss to Steven Siler in his UFC debut in June.
A heavyweight matchup between Matt Mitrione and Rob Broughton has been moved from UFC on FOX 4 to UFC on FX 5, according to MMAJunkie.
