The monstrous Silva tipped the scales at 263 pounds, as he primes to challenge Velasquez (240) for his Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight crown in the UFC 160 main event on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Co-headliners Junior dos Santos (239) and Mark Hunt (264) also hit their intended marks at Friday’s official weigh-in.
Sherdog Fantasy MMA: UFC 160 Free Fan Pick’EmAn American Top Team representative, Silva last fought at UFC 156 in February, when he upset former Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem and delivered one of the year’s most violent knockouts at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Wins over former UFC heavyweight titleholder Andrei Arlovski, Russian icon Fedor Emelianenko and Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts standout Travis Browne anchor the 33-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt’s resume. Silva owns a modest 2-1 record inside the Octagon.
UFC 160 “Velasquez vs. Silva 2” -- which airs live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT -- also features a light heavyweight tilt pitting Glover Teixeira (205) against James Te Huna (206) and a pair of lightweight scraps, as Gray Maynard (156) meets T.J. Grant (155) and Donald Cerrone (155) locks horns with K.J. Noons (156).
Two hours prior, the FX network will carry four preliminary matchups: Mike Pyle (170) vs. Rick Story (169), Dennis Bermudez (146) vs. Max Holloway (145), Colton Smith (170) vs. Robert Whittaker (171) and Khabib Nurmagomedov (158.5) vs. Abel Trujillo (155). The three remaining undercards bouts will stream to the UFC’s Facebook page at 6:35 p.m. ET/3:35 p.m. PT, as Stephen Thompson (170) faces Nah-Shon Burrell (*171), former World Extreme Cagefighting bantamweight champion Brian Bowles (135) collides with George Roop (135) and Jeremy Stephens (146) toes the line against Arizona Combat Sports export Estevan Payan (145).
* Burrell made weight on his second attempt. Nurmagomedov failed to hit his contracted mark and will be fined 20 percent of his purse.
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