UFC’s return to Brazil has a pair of new match-ups set.
Leonardo Santos and Efrain Escudero, who were scheduled to meet ?ukasz Sajewski and Francisco Trinaldo, respectively, at the UFC Fight Night 51 card in Brasilia on Sept. 13, will now face each other at the Nilson Nelson gymnasium.
With the change, Trinaldo now meets Leandro Silva on the preliminary portion of the Fight Night card. MMAFighting.com confirmed the change with sources close to the situation.
Santos (12-3-1) returns to the Octagon following a majority draw against Norman Parke in March. Prior to this bout, the Nova Uniao product submitted William Macario to become the Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 2 welterweight winner.
Escudero (22-8) makes his return to the UFC after winning three of the last four bouts. A fellow Ultimate Fighter winner, Escudero last competed in a third-round TKO victory over Juha-Pekka Vainikainen in Sweden.
Another TUF veteran on the card, Trinaldo (14-4) looks to get back to the win column following a one-sided decision loss to Mike Chiesa at UFC 173. “Massaranduba” went 4-2 fighting inside the Octagon in Brazil.
Silva (16-1-1) make his return to the UFC after winning five straight since his only UFC bout. “Buscape,” who lost to Ildemar Alcantara at UFC on Fuel TV 10 in 2013, finished three of his five bouts since.
UFN 51 is scheduled for the Nilson Nelson gymnasium in Brasilia, Brazil, and is headlined by “Bigfoot” Silva vs. Andrei Arlovski. Here’s the official for UFC Fight Night 51 lineup:
Antonio Silva vs. Andrei Arlovski
Gleison Tibau vs. Piotr Hallmann
Leonardo Santos vs. Efrain Escudero
Wendell Oliveira vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
Igor Araujo vs. George Sullivan
Iuri Alcantara vs. Russell Doane
Jessica Andrade vs. Larissa Pacheco
Godofredo Pepey vs. Dashon Johnson
Francisco Trinaldo vs. Leandro Silva
Paulo Thiago vs. Sean Spencer
Rani Yahya vs. Johnny Bedford