Perth based heavyweight Soa Palelei will face the biggest fight of his long career when the Australian comes up against number 12 ranked UFC contender Antonio ‘Big Foot’ Silva.
The bout was first revealed by The West Australian and later confirmed by UFC officials. It will take place on the UFC 190 scheduled for August 1 at the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
A win for Palelei (MMA 22-4, UFC 4-2) could springboard him into the top 15 on the UFC heavyweight rankings with the 37 year-old having only lost once in his last 13 contests. That being a decision loss to Jared Rosholt back in June last year. ‘The Hulk’ did bounce back in impressive fashion in November where he secured a second-round TKO over American Top Team fighter Walt Harris.
Once a title challenger, Antonio ‘Big Foot’ Silva (MMA 18-7-1nc, UFC 2-4-1nc) has had a fall from the top, having not won a fight since unsuccessfully challenging Cain Velasquez for the belt. Further to that the Brazilian’s entertaining fight against Mark Hunt was declared a no-contest on Silva’s record after Silva tested positive for elevated testosterone. Since then the 193cm tall fighter has been knocked out in back-to-back fights against Andrei Arlovski and Frank Mir.
UFC 190 will be headlined by UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey (MMA 11-0, UFC 5-0) who faces fellow undefeated fighter Bethe Correia (MMA 9-0, UFC 3-0). The main card will be live on Mainevent Pay-per-view.
Fight Card announced so far:
- Ronda Rousey vs Bethe Coreira
- Mauricio Rua vs Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
- Stefan Struve vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
- Soa Palelei vs Antonio Silva
