By
John Heinis on Thursday, September 13
th 2012
UFC 153 is no longer without a main event, but the announced bout in question will no doubt get its fair share of scrutiny for the MMA community.
UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will make his third ever appearance in the light heavyweight division when he takes on the runner-up of the original “Ultimate Fighter,” Stephan Bonnar. USA Today broke the news late Wednesday night.
Silva previously holds first round knockouts over Forrest Griffin, the original “Ultimate Fighter” winner, and James Irvin in his previous fights at 205-pounds.
Meanwhile, “The American Psycho” is on a three-fight win streak and announced in July that he was retired unless he was offered “big fights.” Clearly, Bonnar gets that in Silva, who is 15-0 in the UFC, with 10 of those victories being successful title defenses.
Despite being a not-so-heavily anticipated match up, UFC president Dana White remains optimistic about the card.
“"We're back on track," White told MMA Junkie. "Anderson Silva wasn't scheduled to fight at all. I called him today, and he's shooting a commercial in Brazil. Anderson Silva steps up, and Stephan Bonnar wants to fight him.”
"This is old-school UFC. A card is in jeopardy, but guys that are world champions and superstars stepped up and jumped in and saved the card. This is why the fans love this sport and why we went on a 12-year run without canceling an event.”
Additional fights added to the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil card are Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Dave Herman and the new co-main event, Glover Teixeira vs. Fabio Maldonado.
The event was originally scheduled to have Frankie Edgar, a former UFC lightweight champion, fight UFC featherweight title holder Jose Aldo in the main event. However, Edgar’s divisional debut was put on hold when Aldo suffered a foot injury.
Teixeira was also originally scheduled to take on former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, but a shoulder injury forced Jackson to the sidelines.
Shortly afterwards, Maldonado announced that he would like to fill-in for Rampage to fight Teixeira and he’s gotten his wish.
Is there anyone out there who feels that this new main event could turn out to be an entertaining and competitive affair?