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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
A light heavyweight bout between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Thiago Silva is likely headed to UFC 149 in Calgary this July.
UFC President Dana White confirmed the matchup on Twitter on Sunday afternoon, while MMAJunkie.com reported the likely location and event for the bout.
Rua's name has been attached to the Calgary event for some time, but no opponent had been set prior to Sunday. The former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion is returning to action for the first time since his November loss to Dan Henderson.
Silva will attempt to pick up his first win since August of 2009 after another loss, this time to Alexander Gustafsson by decision at UFC on Fuel 2 earlier this month. That bout was his first since serving a one year suspension for providing a false urine sample for a steroid test..
Penick's Analysis: This is a fight I don't understand. Silva's only win in the last three years is against Keith Jardine. Rua was the Champion as late as 13 months ago. A "Shogun" Rua-Ryan Bader bout made a ton more sense for this division even though Rua was coming off a loss. This just isn't that interesting a fight right now, and it's curious matchmaking on the UFC's part.
[Mauricio "Shogun" Rua art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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