Erick Silva has a new opponent lined up, and it’s someone you’ve likely never heard of. A week after his original opponent for UFC Fight Night 36, Nate Loughran, pulled out of their match with an injury, the UFC has decided to match up Silva with Takenori Sato, the former Pancrase champion who will be making his Octagon debut in Brazil next month against the young buzzsaw Silva. The news is according to Brazilian news outlet Globo. Talk about a mismatch. Although Silva fell to Dong Hyun Kim via brutal KO at UFC Fight Night 29, don’t forget that Kim is one of the very best welterweights in the world. That’s not a bad loss at all, and even though Silva is technically only 3-3 in the UFC, remember that one of those losses was BS DQ to Carlo Prater and really, he should be 4-2 with the only two losses coming to Kim and Jon Fitch. Not bad losses at all. Yet, for some reason, the UFC is giving him nobodies like Loughran and Sato in an effort to get him back in the win column and build him back up. Yes, I understand the UFC still believes in his potential and is trying to build up his confidence, but I really don’t see the point in signing new fighters to the roster just to feed them to Silva. I mean, is there really no welterweight already on the roster coming off a loss that Silva could be matched up against? This isn’t to say that Sato is a bad fighter — from the looks of it, he’s actually a pretty decent Japaense prospect. But he should be given a fair matchup in his UFC debut, not get thrown to the wolves by taking on Silva in Brazil in his very first Octagon fight. It’s just not fair. Sato might have a better chance of winning this fight than most are giving him, but the betting public will still believe in Silva and I expect him to open as at least a -300 and possibly a -400 favorite for this fight, one he will likely win via brutal finish. Mitch Gagnon vs. Tim Gorman, TUF Nations Finale If you thought Silva vs. Sato was a mismatch, wait until I tell you about another fight that’s been announced. According to FOXSports.com, bantamweight stud Mitch Gagnon will take on TUF 18 contestant Tim Gorman at the TUF Nations Finale, which is rumored to take place in April in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. This fight makes absolutely no sense any way you look at it, and the only reason Gagnon accepted the booking is to earn an easy pay cheque and get a shot to win another post-fight bonus award. After going 2-1 in the UFC so far and recently snagging the “Submission of the Night” award at UFC 165, most thought Gagnon would get a significant step up in competition. Instead, he takes on Gorman, who was injured on TUF 18 and who is only getting a shot in the Octagon because UFC president Dana White likes him. Gorman is just an average fighter and is not even close to Gagnon’s class, and I really expect this fight to be a blowout. Look for Gagnon to open around -300 to this fight, and he will likely go even higher as people parlay the rising Canadian, who I believe has the chance to be a contender in the UFC bantamweight division in the near future.
