Brazil shines again at UFC 153

Anderson Silva

UFC 153 has suffered some changes in the main event but now features a solid non-title fight at light heavyweight.  Originally the main event was supposed to be UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo defending his title against Erik Koch then when Koch was injured former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar agreed to step in but Aldo’s training injury scrapped the whole affair.  In his first fight at light heavyweight in over two years UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will fight TUF star Stephan Bonnar in the main event.  UFC 153 takes place at the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil with two fights webstreamed on Facebook, four broadcast on FX, and six making up the pay-per-view portion of the card. 

At light heavyweight Silva is 2-0 with wins over James Irvin and Bonnar’s co-star from TUF 1 Forrest Griffin.  Bonnar was pretty much written off back in 2009-10 when he hit a three-fight losing skid but has since turned his career around with three wins in a row, most recently defeating Kyle Kingsbury by decision at UFC 139.  Silva has the overwhelming odds as he is thought of as a more technical striker and grappler not to mention being the current middleweight champion and not having any such losing streak however this fight should at least be entertaining. 

Dave HermanIn the co-main event former UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira takes on Dave Herman.  Nogueira may have won only half his fights in the past four years but his losses have been to former champions Frank Mir (twice) Cain Velasquez with his rematch against Mir being his most recent.  Herman stood out in EliteXC and Bellator however in the UFC he is 1-2 with a win over John Olav-Einemo and losses to Stefan Struve and Roy Nelson.  Nogueira has his top-notch BJJ skills for Herman to contend with, Herman has an eight-year age advantage making it seem Herman has a chance but not much of one. 

Demian MaiaJon FitchPhil Davis

Prelims on Facebook:

LW: Cristiano Marcello vs.Reza Madadi
MW: Luiz Cane vs.Chris Camozzi

Prelims on FX:

WW: Sergio Moraes vs.Renee Forte
FW: Diego Brandao vs.Joey Gambino
LW: Gleison Tibau vs.Francisco Trinaldo
FW: Rony Mariano Bezerra vs.Sam Sicilia

Main card:

WW: Demain Maia vs.Rick Story
LHW: Phil Davis vs.Wagner Prado
WW: Jon Fitch vs.Erik Silva
LHW: Glover Teixeira vs.Fabio Maldonado
HW: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs.Dave Herman
LHW: Anderson Silva vs.Stephan  Bonnar