SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
March - 2016
21
ian, Thales Leites, who lost a tough unani-
mous decision to Gegard Mousasi in the
co-main event of Fight Night 84. Leites and
Silva originally fought at UFC 97, all the way
back in 2009, with Silva winning the contest
by unanimous decision. A lot has changed
in the seven years since their first fight, but
both fighters currently find themselves in
need of a win if they wish to remain rele-
vant in division’s top ten. A rematch of their
2009 fight would give Leites an opportunity
to show how he’s grown as a mixed martial
artist since their initial match-up, while a Sil-
va win would prove he’s still a threat to the
UFC’s elite middleweight competition.
Another bout featuring two fighters look-
ing to remain relevant in the middleweight
rankings is the upcoming fight between
Lyoto Machida and Dan Henderson at UFC
on FOX 19 in April. Depending on how this
fight plays out, the UFC could reasonably
book Silva against either fighter, regardless
of who gets the win.
The Machida fight would be the tougher
sell, as he and Silva have trained together
extensively in the past. That said, the fight
has the potential to be an amazing display
of technical striking between two Brazilian
legends. If Henderson, who currently stands
near the bottom of the middleweight top
15, beats Machida in April, he still has quite
a way to go to prove he’s a middleweight
contender. It’s been nearly eight years since
Henderson and Silva’s first fight at UFC 82,
which “The Spider” won via second round
submission. A rematch would give “Hendo”
a chance to avenge his loss, and Silva would
be eager to prove he’s not over the hill by
taking out another legend of the sport.
That’s it for this week’s psychic post-fight
breakdown. Keep your eye on The MMA
Corner for all our coverage of next Satur-
day’s monster UFC 196 card. We’ll break
out the crystal ball again after the event to
see what the future holds for the headlining
fighters, including the 170lbs clash between
McGregor and Diaz, and the women’s ban-
tamweight title fight between Holly Holm
and Meisha Tate.
