With the loss of the originally scheduled main event between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Cain Velasquez, UFC 108 will now be headlined by a light heavyweight showdown between former champion “Sugar” Rashad Evans and fellow top contender Thiago Silva.
The fight, while arguably not on the same level as other recent main events, will provide Evans with a chance to get a measure of revenge against Silva, who most recently knocked out Evans’s teammate Keith Jardine at UFC 102 in August.
Evans (13-1-1) earned himself a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship title shot by shockingly knocking out long-time champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell at UFC 88 and he captured the title with a third-round stoppage of then-champ Forrest Griffin at UFC 92.
He lost the title in his first defence at UFC 98 when he was brutally knocked out by current champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida in the second round. Evans has not competed since then due to a coaching stint on Season 9 of The Ultimate Fighter.
Silva (14-1-0), just like Evans, suffered his only loss at the hands of Machida, whom he lost to at UFC 94. He has won all but one of his fights by stoppage, including 11 by knockout. He most recently stopped Keith Jardine, Evans’s teammate at Jackson’s MMA, at UFC 102.
With Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s recent departure from the UFC, which appears to be permanent, the battle between Evans and Silva will likely determine the next title challenger for the winner of the 2010 rematch between Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
Both Evans and Silva possess serious knockout power and the fight will come down to which one lands the first big punch and whose chin best stands up to the punching power of the other.
Barring any more unforeseen injuries, the Evans-Silva clash will headline UFC 108, which takes place on January 2nd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.