Anderson Silva was not planning on returning to the octagon until 2013, but the middleweight champion will headline UFC 153 after injuries to Jose Aldo and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
UFC officials announced late Wednesday night that Silva will headline UFC 153 against Stephan Bonnar in a light heavyweight contest.
Along with announcing the main event, the UFC announced the co-main event will be Glover Teixeira meeting Fabio Maldonado and former interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira taking on Dave Herman.
The UFC 153 main card on pay-per-view will now feature six bouts and the preliminary card will be shown on FX and Facebook.
UFC President Dana White talked to MMAJunkie.com about the new fights. When he called Silva about potentially fighting at 153, he was shooting a commercial in Brazil. Nogueira was with Silva at the commercial shoot and told White that he also wanted to step up and fight on the October 13th card.
Bonnar (14-7) is currently on a three fight winning streak and has said in the past couple of weeks that he wanted a big fight. If he did not get a big fight, he was considering retirement. He has won three straight fights with his last win coming at UFC 139 last year against Kyle Kingsbury. This will be Silva’s (32-4) third light heavyweight bout in the UFC, which he has defeated James Irvin and Forrest Griffin in his previous light heavyweight fights.
Teixeira (18-2) made his long awaited UFC debut earlier this year at UFC 146 and defeated Kingsbury by arm triangle submission in the first round. He is currently on a 16 fight winning streak and was scheduled to take on Rampage. Maldonado (18-5) wanted to meet Teixeira after finding out Rampage was out and the UFC granted him the fight. He is on a two fight losing streak with the losses coming against Kingsbury and Igor Pokrajac.
Nogueira (33-7-1, 1NC) is a former interim Pride and UFC heavyweight champion. He has been out of action after suffering an arm injury at UFC 140 against Frank Mir. After starting his UFC career with two straight victories, he has lost three of his last five fights. Herman (21-4) has lost two straight after winning his UFC debut against John-Olav Einemo. He is coming off a lost at UFC 146 against Roy Nelson, which he was defeated by knockout in the first round.
UFC 153: Silva vs. Bonnar takes place on October 13th from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the current fight card is below.
Main Card: (PPV)
Anderson Silva vs. Stephan Bonnar
Glover Teixeira vs. Fabio Maldonado
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Dave Herman
Jon Fitch vs. Erick Silva
Phil Davis vs. Wagner Prado
Demian Maia vs. Rick Story
Preliminary Card: (FX/Facebook)
Rony Jason vs. Sam Sicilia
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Geronimo Dos Santos
Gleison Tibau vs. Francisco Trinaldo
Diego Brandao vs. Joey Gambino
Renee Forte vs. Sergio Moraes
Chris Camozzi vs. Luiz Cane
Reza Madadi vs. Cristiano Marcello