Thiago Silva, for the first time in years, will not be out of action for 12 months between fights. Coming off of a decision loss to the rising Alexander Gustafsson in April, Silva has reportedly been booked for a fight with Stanislav Nedkov at UFC on Fuel TV 6, which will be held in Macau, China on Nov. 10.
Prior to his fight with Gustafsson, Silva served a one-year suspension for attempting to cheat a pre-fight drug test for a bout against Brandon Vera. Preceding his overturned win against Vera, Silva battled injuries for a year and fell out of title contention in the light heavyweight division. To put it mildly, Silva has had a rough patch in his career over the past few years, but he’ll have a great chance to turn things around against a relatively inexperienced opponent in Nedkov.
Nedkov picked up a win over Luiz Cane in his UFC debut, but the Bulgarian hasn’t competed in the year that has since passed. So, for once, it will be Silva who could be looking to take advantage of an opponent’s ring rust.
Silva’s UFC career may even depend on his success at UFC on Fuel TV 6, as the Brazilian’s last victory came three years ago against Strikeforce middleweight Keith Jardine. Many believe Silva still possesses the skill to return to title contention in the 205-pound division, but he’ll need to prove it inside the cage or risk losing his spot on the UFC roster.
The UFC will be visiting China for the first time at UFC on Fuel TV 6, which features a bout between middleweight stars Rich Franklin and Cung Le.
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