UFC
Matt Brown vs. Erick Silva headlines UFC Fight Night 40 in Cincinnati on Fox Sports 1
Mar 3, 2014 - 4:50:26 PM Matt Brown vs. Erick Silva headlines UFC Fight Night 40 in Cincinnati on Fox Sports 1

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Matt Brown is returning to action on May 10 as he'd hoped, and he's doing so in the night's main event.

The UFC announced on Monday, via a report from FoxSports.com, that Brown will meet Erick Silva in the headlining fight of the UFC Fight Night 40 event in Cincinnati.

Brown's wife relayed to UFC Tonight on Fox Sports 1 last week that he had returned to training after injury took him out of a fight with Carlos Condit, and that he was hoping to fight on the May 10 card. He was also hoping to meet Rory MacDonald on the card, but that fight clearly didn't come together.

The 33-year-old Brown has emerged as a legitimate contender after posting a six-fight winning streak in the division dating back to 2012. That streak has seen him finish five opponents, including four straight by (T)KO. In his last outing, Brown took out Mike Pyle in just 29 seconds last August.

Brazil's Erick Silva gets a major opportunity to snap Brown's streak off a bounce back knockout of Takenori Sato at UFC Fight Night 36 last month in Brazil. His last two outings against top 20 talent saw him lose a decision to Jon Fitch, and get knocked out by Dong Hyun Kim.

Penick's Analysis: This should be an exciting welterweight fight, no question, but it's a bit dubious as a main event. Brown-MacDonald would have worked in that slot, but Silva getting a main event fight just two bouts removed from the Kim KO loss and off a squash match with Sato just doesn't add up to a sensible decision. It should be extremely violent and almost certainly guarantees a finish, but it's a step down for Brown when he's nearing title contention.