Don't think for a moment this one won't be personal.
Thiago Silva (14-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) and Brandon Vera (12-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC), who first met in a UFC 125 bout that was eventually ruled a "no contest," will fight again on May 15 in Fairfax, Va.
As MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) first reported, the UFC is expected to hold an event at this city's Patriot Center, though UFC executives have yet to reveal the venue for the card or where the action will be broadcast.
Nevertheless, the UFC announced the matchup early Thursday morning.
The event is expected to serve as the UFC's second trip to the Patriot Center following UFC Fight Night 20, which took place Jan. 11, 2010 and featured a lightweight headliner between Gray Maynard and Nate Diaz. The event was a reported sellout with a $730,000 live gate and 8,500 in attendance.
Silva fought fellow light heavyweight Vera and earned a unanimous-decision win at UFC 125 in January. However, the 28-year-old subsequently was scratched from a planned UFC 130 bout with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson when UFC 125 drug-testing results were released.
This past March, Silva was served with a formal NSAC complaint after two separate urinalysis samples revealed a substance that was "inconsistent with human urine," which indicated that he "submitted an adulterated and/or substituted specimen for testing for the urinalysis." Silva's first test was flagged, which prompted further testing by the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory, which is accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Silva then admitted to taking a prescription steroid, delivered by a doctor via epidural, on two separate occasions prior to UFC 125.
Silva was fined (and later paid) $13,750 of his $55,000 "show" purse and $20,000 of his $55,000 "win" purse for a total of $33,750.
Meanwhile, Vera was released from the UFC following the loss to Silva but was brought back when the ruling was made. Vera has since registered a win in the octagon, a UFC 137 decision over Eliot Marshall, but has done little to hide his contempt for the man he openly refers to as a "juice monkey."
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