Thiago Silva (Photo courtesy UFC)
Silva returns after suspension
Thiago Silva has his first post-suspension fight booked, and it’s a pretty natural matchup.
Silva will meet Brandon Vera on May 15 in Fairfax, Va., at an event expected to be UFC on FX 3. The fight will be a rematch of their UFC 125 fight last year, which Silva won by dominant unanimous decision – only to have the win overturned to a no contest when he tested positive after the fight and admitted to using steroids. The UFC announced the fight early Thursday.
Silva (14-2, 1 NC, 5-2, 1 NC UFC) will return for the first time since serving a one-year suspension handed down by the Nevada State Athletic Commission last year. Silva was found to have submitted a false urine sample, and when caught admitted to using steroids prior to the fight with Vera on the Jan. 1 card. Prior to that fight, Silva had lost two of three fights, both to former or future light heavyweight champions in Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida.
Vera (12-5, 1 NC, 8-5, 1 NC UFC) was cut from the UFC after his loss to Silva. But after Silva’s suspension and fine, Vera was ultimately brought back to the promotion for one more chance. He responded with a close decision win over Eliot Marshall at UFC 137 in October. That got him off the schneid after losses to Randy Couture and Jon Jones, plus the overturned loss to Silva.
UFC on FX 3 will be the promotion’s second trip to the Patriot Center in Fairfax, a western suburb of Washington, D.C. The UFC’s first show there was in January 2010 for a Fight Night card headlined by Nate Diaz and Gray Maynard. The UFC visited Washington proper in October for a show on the Versus cable channel.