Former UFC heavyweight champion Antônio Rodrigo “Big Nog” Nogueira says fellow Black House teammate Anderson “The Spider” Silva (28-4) will meet Japanese fighter Yushin “Thunder” Okami (26-5) at the upcoming UFC Rio event in August.
Nogueira spoke with Tatame.com about the potential title fight recently.
The upcoming event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil marks the UFC’s first visit since 1998 when the promotion ran UFC Ultimate Brazil in São Paulo. UFC: Rio does not have an official name but is expected to take place on August 27 at the HSBC Arena and should feature a stacked card of Brazilian fighters.
Both men have met once before back in January 2006 at a Rumble on the Rock 8 event in Honolulu, Hawaii. The bout ended in a disqualification loss for Silva, the last loss on his record, after he delivered an illegal upkick to Okami in the first round. The kick left “Thunder” unconscious and unable to continue the bout. Now both men will earn a second chance to finish what they started over five years ago.
Here is a GIF of that upckick by Silva on Okami.
Silva will look to extend his record of title defenses to nine when he meets Okami and his current win streak to fifteen. He is coming off an eight title defense last February after knocking out fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort in the first round with a front kick at UFC 126. Silva earned the “Knockout of the Night” bonus for that victory, his second set of bonuses after being awarded the “Fight of the Night” and Submission of the Night” bonuses after submitting Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 in August of 2010.
Okami has won his last three fights, including six of seven bouts. He’s fought three times for #1 contender status and only walked away victorious once, that being his last bout against Nate Marquardt. He earned a unanimous decision over “The Great” at UFC 122, while losing decisions to Chael Sonnen at UFC 104, and to Rich Franklin at UFC 72 in title eliminator matches. “Thunder’s” previous two victories before his win over Marquardt include a split decision win over Mark Munoz at UFC on Versus 2, and a TKO victory against Lucio Linhares at UFC Fight Night 21.