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.
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."
Not what I was hoping for for Thiago Silva's comeback fight, but I guess it lets them close the book on this one way or the other. Probably the best use for Brandon Vera too, since nobody would buy him in a main event otherwise.
