A pivotal matchup in the UFC welterweight division will take place this fall in Brazil. Brazilian media outlet Globo today reported that Erick Silva will take on Dong Hyun Kim in a three-round welterweight match at an upcoming UFC Fight Night card in Brazil that is scheduled to take place Oct. 9 at a location that’s yet to be decided. The matchup pits two of the best 170 pounders in the world against each other, and it no doubt carries title implications as the winner of the fight will have a ton of momentum behind them. In Silva’s case, he’s bounced back admirably ever since that ridiculous DQ loss to Carlo Prater at UFC 142 as he’s upped his UFC record to a solid 3-2 (should really be 4-1) with “Submission of the Night” wins over Charlie Brenneman and Erick Silva as well as a “Fight of the Night” at UFC 153 with Jon Fitch in a match that likely came too soon his career. Silva is one of the most exciting prospects the UFC has in any of their divisions and they want this guy to be a big star in Brazil and that’s why they keep giving him huge matchups on his home turf. Although he’s won all of them except for the Fitch fight (I don’t consider the fight with Prater a loss, and neither does the UFC), he doesn’t have a win over a legitimate top guy yet — but a win over KIm would certainly count. Kim is so underrated. He’s 8-2, 1 NC in the UFC, a great record in the stacked welterweight division. The problem is his grappling-heavy style often leads to decision wins and the fans are paying to see finishes, which is likely why Kim hasn’t been pushed up the ladder harder by the promotion. As well, when he was given those fights that would have put him in a title eliminator position, he was knocked out by Carlos Condit at UFC 132 and lost via injury TKO to Demian Maia at UFC 148. But with two-straight dominating victories over Paulo Thiago and Siyar Bahadurzada since the Maia debacle, Kim is certainly making his way back up the ladder and a win over Silva would likely solidify his place in the division’s top 10. This is a very close matchup and it’s a fight that I can see going either way. For that reason, I’m expecting the line to open up as a near Pick ’em and for the public to decide who they think should be favored. If I had to guess, the public might come in a little bit more on Silva due to the Brazil factor but this is definitely a fight that Kim can win because he has that grappling style that Fitch used to give Silva problems in their fight. Look for more fights to be announced for this card in the coming weeks, and I expect Vitor Belfort against another top middleweight contender like Costa Philippou to serve as the main event of the evening.
