Jay Silva in for Paulo Filho Against Lombard At Bellator 18

Former WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho has backed out of the fight against Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard. In his place will be UFC veteran and Brazilian striker Jay Silva. The bout will be a non-title “Superfight” and will serve as the main event.

Bellator 18 will take place this Thursday night in Monroe, Louisiana and will be live on FSN.

“It seems the event took too long in sending out the letter I needed to present at the consulate and I’m not sure but it could be there was some kind of failure on the part of my managers,” Filho told Gracie Magazine. “So I won’t get my visa in time”

Jay Silva is coming off an unsuccessful stint in the UFC after suffering back-to-back losses to Chris Leben and C.B. Dolloway. The Team Punishment product will get the opportunity of a life time as he takes on the highly touted Bellator middleweight champion.

Keep up with the latest MMA news and commentary.  Follow Heavy MMA on Twitter and Facebook.