UFC President Dana White confirmed an earlier report by Tatame.com, that UFC middleweight champ Anderson “The Spider” Silva (28-4) and Japanese fighter Yushin “Thunder” Okami (26-5) would headline August’s UFC event in Brazil.
White confirmed the news with USA Today on Wednesday for the promotions first visit to Brazil since 1998.
The show, commonly referred to as UFC Rio, is expected to take place on August 27 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
This will be the second meeting between both men who squared off in a cage back in January 2006, as part of 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.
Silva, who holds the record for consecutive title defenses, will look to extend that record to nine when he meets Okami, and earn his fifteenth straight win as well. “The Spider” is coming off his eighth title defense last February, knocking out fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort in the first round of their bout using a front kick in the headliner of UFC 126. Silva earned the “Knockout of the Night” bonus for that victory, his second straight set of bonuses after earning 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 last victory 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.