Browne vs. Silva headlines but UFC on FX 5 mostly about lighter classes

UFC on FX 5: Browne vs. Bigfoot may be headlined by a heavyweight fight but the rest of the card is at welterweight or below making for a great night for fans of the lighter weight classes.  UFC on FX 5 takes place October 5th at the Target Center in Minneapolis with prelims on Facebook and Fuel TV, a main card of course on FX.

Antonio SilvaAntonio Silva’s 12-month record is a little misleading as he is 0-2 in the past year with losses to Daniel Cormier in the semifinals of the Strikeforce GP and a loss to Cain Velasquez in Silva’s UFC debut.  Prior to that Silva earned respect for being the first and only EliteXC champion and defeating Fedor Emelianenko, Silva’s only other loss in five years being to former ADCC Worlds champion Fabricio Werdum back in November 2009.  Silva is a black belt in BJJ, judo, and karate who prefers to stand and use his reach which at 6’4” usually surpasses his opponents, the question with Silva usually being his pattern of getting caught with strikes such as his last two fights which ended in the first round by KO/TKO.  13-0-1 Browne at 6’7” will actually have a reach advantage, a factor in his three UFC wins (and one draw) which earned Browne “Knockout of the Night” and “Submission of the Night” once each.  The downside to Browne being he hasn’t faced the level of competition Silva has with his win over Stefan Struve arguably being his biggest fight to date.  Browne is coming off the “Submission of the Night” win but Silva may be the well-rounded fighter to give Browne his first loss.

Jake Ellenberger on leftThe co-main event between Jake Ellenberger and Jay Hieron was originally scheduled for UFC 151 but with the cancellation of that event this fight and three undercard fights were moved to this card.  Ellenberger’s six-fight win streak was broken in his last fight at the hands (or more specifically knees) of Martin Kampmann in June while his win over Diego Sanchez earned “Fight of the Night” andJay Hieron Jake Shields won “Knockout of the Night” awards.  Hieron is a UFC vet from back in 2004-05 but since then has been known as one of the best “journeymen” or fighters making their way outside the UFC, Hieron making it to a title shot against Ben Askren in Bellator snapping a ten-fight win streak while his most recent was a win over Romario da Silva in LFC in July.

John Dodson on leftArguably the most newsworthy fight of the main card is a title elimination bout between flyweights John Dodson and Jussier da Silva.  TUF vet Dodson was one of the flyweight standouts well before the UFC started sanctioning the division having fought for the UWC flyweight title back in October 2009, Dodson’s most recent loss.  Since then Dodson picked up four official wins not counting his TUF reality show fights at bantamweight, Dodson’s most recent win over Tim Elliott being his return to flyweight.  Da Silva is the Shooto South American champion at 123 pounds with five wins in a row but is making his UFC debut this night.  Da Silva is known for his submissions skills but has never won by KO/TKO, Dodson is known as “the Magician” for his ability to stick and move as if he is teleporting around the cage.  Look for this fight to likely win “Fight of the Night” as both are well-conditioned and exciting.

Josh NeerThe main card is rounded off with TUF vet Justin Edwards vs. Josh Neer.  Neer returned to the UFC a year ago and has since gone 2-1 with wins over Keith Wisniewski and Duane Ludwig but in his most recent fight lost to Mike Pyle by KO.  Edwards in the past year is 1-1 with a win over Jorge Lopez and a loss to John Maguire bringing Edwards to 7-2.  Neer definitely has the experience advantage and more well-rounded skills but Edwards has a chance to pull out a win.

Dennis HallmanThe Fuel TV undercard is all below welterweight with four at lightweight, one at featherweight, and one at flyweight.  Dennis Hallman returns to lightweight to fight Thiago Tavares while three-time  Yves Edwards on top “Knockout of the Night” winner Jeremy Stephens faces one of the original strong strikers Yves Edwards as arguably the two fights not to miss.

Bart Palaszewski Mike Pierce on right Carlo Prater's Strikeforce submission

Prelims on Facebook:

WW: Mike Pierce vs. Aaron Simpson
LW: Carlo Prater vs. Marcus LeVesseur

Prelims on Fuel TV:

Flyweight: Darren Uyenoyama vs. Phil Harris
FW: Diego Nunes vs. Bart Palaszewski
LW: Jacob Volkmann vs. Shane Roller
LW: Thiago Tavares vs. Dennis Hallman
LW: Danny Castillo vs. Michael Johnson
LW: Jeremy Stephens vs. Yves Edwards

Main card:

WW: Josh Neer vs. Justin Edwards
Flyweight elimination bout: Jussier da Silva vs. John Dodson
WW: Jake Ellenberger vs. Jay Hieron
HW: Travis Browne vs. Antonio Silva