Matt Brown vs. Erick Silva to headline Cincy show

Published on Tuesday, 3/4/14, at 12:08 a.m. Eastern.

By Brian Edwards

Matt Brown will return from a back injury against Brazilian Erick Silva in the main event at UFC Fight Night 40 in Cincinnati. The Ohio native will face Silva in a five-round bout on May 10. Fox Sports 1 will provide television coverage.

Brown is on a six-fight winning streak and was poised to take on welterweight gatekeeper Carlos Condit in December. However, the back injury forced Brown to reluctantly pull out of his desired fight against an elite contender.

‘The Immortal’ doesn’t even get a top-10 opponent, but he shouldn’t be pissed off about this matchup. Silva has four UFC victories by way of first-round finishes, in addition to four Fight Night bonuses. But Silva (4-3 UFC) hasn’t won back-to-back fights yet, and he was finished for the first time by Dong Hyun Kim in KO fashion on Oct. 9 of last year.

Brown’s last two victories earned him bonus checks. His second-round finish of Jordan Mein was Fight of the Night and his first-round knockout of Mike Pyle earned KO of the Night honors.

**Octagon Extras**

–The UFC has released the trailer teasing the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil. In the short video clip, you see the start of the altercation between Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva.

–Kim (AKA ‘The Stun Gun’) has won four consecutive fights, including this highlight-reel knockout of John Hathaway with a sick spinning elbow at Saturday’s main event of the show in Macau, China.

–Light Heavyweight contender and former champ Rashad Evans recently revealed that he’s in therapy after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL. Evans is eyeing a return in the fall of this year.

–As first reported by Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, former heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos will fight Stipe Miocic in the co-main event at UFC 173. Expect JDS to be heavily favored.

–Keep updated on the odds for Chris Weidman’s second title defense vs. Lyoto Machida at UFC 173.