Thiago Silva vs. Brandon Vera Earns UFC 125 Main Card Slot

A light heavyweight match up between Brandon Vera and Thiago Silva has made the jump from the preliminary card of UFC 125 to the main card.

MMAjunkie.com confirmed the news with sources close to the event earlier today.

Silva, who has garnered the reputation of one of the promotion’s top knockout artists, is coming off a loss to former champion Rashad Evans at UFC 108. Following the loss, news circulated that Silva had been struggling with a back injury, which was the same injury that forced him out of his bout with Tim Boetsch earlier this year. The Brazilian’s fight against Vera comes just one day short of a year since his last appearance in the Octagon.

Vera, meanwhile, is on the search for a rebound of his own, coming off a disappointing technical knockout loss to Jon Jones at “UFC on Versus 1” this past March. The loss was Vera’s second in a row, with the other coming against Randy Couture in the main event of UFC 105 back in November of 2009.

The bout joins a main card that features a main event between lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, the only fighter to defeat him. A featherweight title bout between Jose Aldo and Josh Grispi was also expected to make the card, but an injury has forced the Brazilian champion out of the match up.