Matt Brown vs. Erick Silva headlines UFC Fight Night 40 in Cincinnati

A key welterweight fight between sluggers Matt Brown (18-11 MMA, 11-5 UFC) and Erick Silva (16-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) headlines the UFC’s May return to Ohio.

UFC officials today confirmed the matchup following an initial report from FOXSports.com.

The bout new serves as the featured contest of “UFC Fight Night 40: Brown vs. Silva,” which takes place May 10 at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati. The evening’s main card airs on FOX Sports 1 following preliminary bouts on UFC Fight Pass. The full lineup will be announced shortly.

Brown, who’s ranked No. 9 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings, headlines a UFC event for the first time in his career while also fighting in his home state of Ohio. The scrappy 33-year-old, who once hovered around .500 with his career record, has rewarded the UFC’s patience with him by responding with a six-fight winning streak that includes recent wins over Mike Swick, Jordan Mein and Mike Pyle.

Brazilian slugger Silva returns to action quickly following a 52-second drubbing of UFC newcomer Takenori Sato in February. The 29-year-old prospect has shown flashes of brilliance in a seven-fight UFC run but has struggled to find consistency in alternating wins and losses throughout his tenure.

The latest UFC Fight Night 40 card now includes:

• Matt Brown vs. Erick Silva
• Justin Salas vs. Ben Wall
• Ed Herman vs. Rafael Natal
• Soa Palelei vs. Ruan Potts
• Manny Gamburyan vs. Nik Lentz
• Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Darrell Montague
• Chris Cariaso vs. Louis Smolka
• Yan Cabral vs. Alexander Yakovlev
• Johnny Eduardo vs. Eddie Wineland
• Daron Cruickshank vs. Erik Koch
• Lorenz Larkin vs. Constantinos Philippou

For more on UFC Fight Night 40, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Matt Brown)