Bigfoot Silva vs. Soa Palelei Lands on UFC 190 Fight Card

Though it’s still more than three months away, the UFC 190 fight card continues to grow with Friday’s addition of a heavyweight bout between Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Soa Palelei. UFC officials confirmed the bout first reported by Yahoo News.

Silva (18-7, 1 NC) has been through a rough patch the past couple of years. He’s lost three out of four bouts during that span, while the other was a Fight-of-the-Year candidate turned no-contest due to elevated levels of testosterone on his post-fight drug test.

The Brazilian’s last trip to the cage was a drubbing. Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir knocked Silva out in less than two minutes courtesy of his much-improved striking.

In short, Silva needs a victory… badly.

He’ll be attempting to do so against a fighter that has been at the opposite end of the spectrum. Palelei (22-4) has run up a record of 12-1 over the past four years. His lone loss was a decision to Jared Rosholt in the Octagon.

Silva represents the most high profile fight of his career, but Palelei is riding a wave of confidence that could be just what he needs to topple his Brazilian foe. Although he’ll have to do so on Silva’s home turf.

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The two will meet at UFC 190 on Aug. 1 in Rio de Janeiro. The card is headlined by Ronda Rousey‘s bantamweight title defense against Bethe Correia, and also features Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Stefan Struve.