(The way Erick leaves the cage after a victory? Totally ripped off from Van Morrison. / Photo via Esther Lin @ MMAFighting)
After having his momentum slowed by a beast-mode version of Jon Fitch last month, Brazilian welterweight prospect Erick Silva will attempt to rebound against veteran Jay Hieron at UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar, February 2nd in Las Vegas. The UFC confirmed the booking last week.
Hieron is an unexpected choice for Silva’s return opponent, as the Thoroughbred is currently in the “hanging on by a thread” stage of his UFC career. When Hieron lost a unanimous decision to Jake Ellenberger during his promotional return fight in October, his lifetime UFC record dropped to 0-3 — which means that if Hieron loses this next fight, he’ll become just the fourth fighter in UFC history to go 0-4 in the Octagon, after Tiki Ghosn, Seth Petruzelli, and John Alessio. And trust me, brother, that is not a club you want to join.
Meanwhile, Silva has earned previous UFC victories against Charlie Brenneman and Luis Ramos (both by first-round stoppage), and his disqualification against Carlo Prater in January was one of those Jones/Hamill-style “losses,” where Silva was clearly beating the dude’s ass before the controversial rule-infraction.
In addition to the headlining featherweight title fight, UFC 156 will also feature Alistair Overeem vs. Antonio Silva, and Jon Fitch vs. Demian Maia.