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[Diegonightmare]

Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva moved to UFC 108 main-event slot
by Dann Stupp on Nov 16, 2009 at 10:30 am ET

With Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira out of UFC 108, the Ultimate Fighting Championship today announced the event's scheduled co-headliner, Rashad Evans (13-1-1 MMA, 8-1-1 UFC) vs. Thiago Silva (14-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC), has been moved into the night's main-event slot.

The light heavyweight contest headlines the Jan. 2 card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Although today's announcement said Nogueira, who was slated to fight Cain Velasquez, was forced off the card with a "severe injury to his left elbow," UFC president Dana White on Saturday said the former heavyweight champion also has a "bad" staph infection.

"[Nogueira] got staph infection, bad, to the point now it's in his bloodstream, and he's probably going to have to be hospitalized and intravenously given the antibiotics," White said.

At the time, White told MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com) he was unsure if Velasquez would remain on the card. With Evans vs. Silva now in the headliner, Velasquez will likely be shifted to a future card.

That opened the door for Evans, a former champ, and Silva, a longtime 205-pound contender, to take the pay-per-view top spot.

"The bout between Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva is a fight we always talked about as a main event, and now these guys have the chance to headline UFC 108 and kick off the new year in impressive fashion," White stated. "At the same time, we wish Antonio Nogueira a speedy recovery and can't wait for his return."

Evans looks to rebound from the first loss of his five-plus-year career. The 30-year-old lost the UFC's light heavyweight title in May when Lyoto Machida dropped him in the second round of their UFC 98 main-event contest. "The Ultimate Fighter 2" heavyweight winner served as a coach on "The Ultimate Fighter 10" (now airing) and was expected to fight rival coach Quinton Jackson in December. A dispute with White, though, led Jackson to announce his retirement in September.

Silva also recently suffered the lone loss of his career to Machida. After suffering a first-round knockout to "The Dragon" in January, Silva has since bounced back with a TKO win over Keith Jardine at UFC 102. Silva was 13-0 (4-0 in the UFC) prior to loss.

The latest UFC 108 card now includes:

* Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva
* Junior Dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga*
* Carlos Condit vs. Paul Daley*
* Tyson Griffin vs. Jim Miller*
* Martin Kampmann vs. Rory Markham*
* Joe Lauzon vs. Sam Stout*
* Rafaello Oliveira vs. Sean Sherk*
* Dan Lauzon vs. Cole Miller*
* Ryan Jensen vs. Mark Munoz*
* Jake Ellenberger vs. Mike Pyle*

{SOURCE}

Even with Big Nog out, the UFC 108 card is a very solidly structured card for the hardcore fans. Silva vs. Evans, Gonzaga vs. Dos Santos, Condit vs. Daley, Griffin vs. Miller, Kampmann vs. Markham - all very solid and very logical fights.

In fact every single fight listed is very solid. I think 108 is a pretty under-rated card.

[Badluck33]

They still need that Marquis Main Event. IMO

[Malice]

Originally Posted by Diegonightmare

{SOURCE}

Even with Big Nog out, the UFC 108 card is a very solidly structured card for the hardcore fans. Silva vs. Evans, Gonzaga vs. Dos Santos, Condit vs. Daley, Griffin vs. Miller, Kampmann vs. Markham - all very solid and very logical fights.

In fact every single fight listed is very solid. I think 108 is a pretty under-rated card.

Still a very solid card from start to finish, I am actually looking forward to
Jake Ellenberger vs. Mike Pyle* just as much as the main event.

There is not 1 weak match there.

Daley is going kill Condit....so will the UFC kick out Condit if he goes 1-2 in the UFC?

[Diegonightmare]

The fight I am most looking forward to is Daley vs. Condit, but the whole damn card is great. I also am looking forward to Ellenberger vs. Pyle.

Also Dos Santos-Gonzaga. JDS already ruined Werdum and made Cro Cop quit - if he can beat zags, especially convincingly, then he would be in the hunt for a title shot even without the injury-depleted HW division. With the injuries, then he should be right there if he can get by Gonzaga.

Daley is going kill Condit....so will the UFC kick out Condit if he goes 1-2 in the UFC?

No chance in hell IMO. His fights against both Kampmann and Ellenberger were very exciting 3-round back-and-forth wars, both ending in split decisions that could have gone either way. Unless Daley completely exposes Condit - which I don't see happening - I think Carlos is here to stay for a little while.

[Fedorlei Gomipierre]

Given the present lack of HW depth, I wouldn't mind seeing Cain/Arlovski in the comain. Sure he's coming off two losses, but Arlovski is a big name and a fine stepping stone for Cain. Given the loss of Lesnar and Nog for the near future, there are several potential matchups to give Arlovski such as Crocop, Gabe, Mir, Kongo and Carwin.

Arlovski's looking to fight in Dec, but I'm sure he'd settle for Jan 2.....

[ckauffman28]

still solid, wont order but will be watching at some sports bar, only card that has my money is 107 so far...

[The8thPlague]

Great Card, can't wait.

But with Big Nog being out for a while and Brock being out for a while why do they just put Cain VS Shane as the main event.
They were supposed to fight already & this fight would definitely show who is next in line for Brocks belt.

[snakebite]

Originally Posted by The8thPlague

Great Card, can't wait.

But with Big Nog being out for a while and Brock being out for a while why do they just put Cain VS Shane as the main event.
They were supposed to fight already & this fight would definitely show who is next in line for Brocks belt.

carwin is out with knee surgery. So much for fedor not being able to keep up with "top competition" LOL. I think the card is good but the headliner is shit. I also hate when they take 2 guys who lost to the champ and put them together. Then what?? The winner gets a title shot?? It dont make sense to me and im sick of all the rematch possibilitys. When they can only think of guys who have already lost to someone as the only hope to beat him in a rematch, that says to me they dont have enough talent and they are admitting it. I think they need to take more chances with guys everyone knows aregood. I would like to see jon jones in a title fight soon. I also think that anthony johnson should be getting a shot instead of hardy. He would DESTROY hardy.

[up_n_comer]

My guess is Nog's faking and he was actually offered a roll as Machete, Oh well top to bottom this looks like an amazing card and I can't wait to see Dos Santos fight I think that guys the future of the HW division .

[Sakara=Excitement]

UFC doesn't really have any solid main events coming down the pipe anytime soon. Penn vs Sanchez maybe but that's about it. Forrest vs Tito? Randy vs Vera? Thiago vs Rashad? Good to great match-ups but definitely not main event material. Now we'll see if the brand UFC is bigger than the match-ups.