Welterweight Paulo Thiago (14-3) appears set to fight in front of his fellow Brazilians for a second straight event as part of the upcoming UFC 142 event this coming January. According to Tatame.com, Thiago is set to face American fighter Mike ‘Quicksand’ Pyle (21-8-1) at the Rio show.
UFC 142 is the follow up event to last August’s very successful UFC 134, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the HSBC Arena. The venue is expected to host UFC 142 on January 14, 2012 and is likely headlined by a UFC featherweight title bout between champ Jose Aldo vs. Team Alpha Male fighter Chad Mendes.
Thiago avoided a pink slip from the UFC by defeating David Mitchell at UFC 134 by decision following back-to-back losses. Thiago had lost two matches by decision, one to Diago Sanchez at UFC 121 for which both men were awarded the “Fight of the Night” bonus, and at UFC 115 to Martin Kampmann. In the Octagon, the Brazilian is just 4-3 in his career since debuting in February 2009.
Pyle enters the bout on a loss, having suffered a first round TKO defeat at the hands of Rory MacDonald at UFC 133 last August. The defeat ended a three fight win streak which saw ‘Quicksand’ win matches over Ricardo Almeida at UFC 128, John Hathaway at UFC 120, and Jesse Lennox at UFC 115. Since joining the UFC in may 2009, Pyle holds the exact same record as his upcoming opponent at 4-3.