Former UFC middleweight Kendall ‘Da Spyder’ Grove (13-9) is keeping busy in 2012 with two fights booked in the opening two months of the new year.
Grove is already scheduled to headline the upcoming ProElite 3 event on January 21st in Hawaii versus Japanese fighter Ikuhisa Minowa, and is now set to headline a Superior Cage Combat event in February against former UFC fighter Jay Silva (7-4).
The Superior Cage Combat promotion announced the fight on their website this week, pitting Grove against Silva, as well as announcing a SCC lightweight title fight between John Gunderson (32-12-2) and Justin Buchholz (12-6).
The full eight fight card for SCC 4 is expected to be announced on December 27th, 2011.
Since ‘Da Spyder’s’ release from the UFC this past May the Hawaiian fighter fought just once, appearing in last Augusts ProElite 1 event in a rematch versus Joe Riggs. Grove would earn a quick first round submission, ending the fight at 0:59. Grove was released from the UFC after losses to Tim Boetsch at UFC 130 and to Demian Maia at the TUF 12 Finale.
Silva has won two straight, earning a decision win in Bellator this past May as well as a 33-second victory one year ago at a Tachi Palace Fights show. Previous to that, Silva had dropped three straight with his last loss coming as a highlight reel for Bellator’s Hector Lombard, as the middleweight champ KO’d Silva in just six seconds in their 190-lbs catchweight bout. The other two losses include both of his Octagon appearances, dropping fights to Chris Leben at UFN 20 and to C.B. Dollaway at UFN 19.