Originally booked for a fight with UFC veteran Mike Swick, highly-touted Brailian prospect and former Jungle Fight champion Erick Silva will now meet fellow Brazilian Luis Ramos. Ramos stepped in as a replacement after a knee injury forced Swick out of the original bout.
Mike Swick has already been out of action for well over one year, so this additional setback could easily stretch the veteran’s hiatus to more than two years. At 32 years old, injury problems could lead to the demise of a once-promising welterweight.
Silva has only lost once in his 13 official fights, which have all taken place in Silva’s home country. The 27-year-old Silva trains under Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and will be looking for his ninth straight win at UFC 134.
Nova Uniao-trained Ramos has won six of his last seven fights, with his only loss during that time coming against former UFC fighter Roan Carneiro. At 30 years old, this fight will be an excellent opportunity for Ramos to make a name for himself in Brazil.
These two Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners have never been submitted, so it wouldn’t be surprising for this welterweight bout to turn into a stand-up battle. Whether the fight takes place standing or on the ground, the Brazilian crowd will demand an exciting scrap between their two compatriots.
This fight between Silva and Ramos will serve as the third bout on the UFC 134 Facebook stream, which will start at approximately 6 p.m. ET on the UFC’s official Facebook page. The live Facebook stream will air five preliminary card bouts before leading into the final two preliminary card fights on Spike TV.
Sean Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. Sean has also had his work featured on UFC.com. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA.