Soa palelei vs Ryan Potts added to UFC Cincinnati fight night 40 full card

UFC returns to Cincinnati for the first time since 2007, and three bouts were announced for the Fight Night card.

A fight originally scheduled for UFC 167, Ed Herman takes on Rafael Natal in the middleweight division. Herman (21-10, 1 no-contest) looks to get back on track after a decision loss to Thales Leites, while Natal (17-5-1) tries to bounce back to the wins after suffering a first-round knockout to Tim Kennedy.

Soa Palelei is also set to compete in Ohio, facing off against Ruan Potts in the heavyweight division. Palelei (21-3) returned to the UFC in 2013 and scored back-to-back knockout wins over Nikita Krylov and Pat Barry. South Africa’s Potts (8-1) makes his UFC debut riding a three-fight win streak.

The third match-up announced for the card features lightweights Justin Salas and Ben Wall. Salas (11-5) looks to get back on track after a quick submission loss to Thiago Tavares in Brazil. Wall (7-1-1) suffered his professional loss in a 43-seconsd knockout to Alex Garcia in his UFC debut in December.

The UFC Fight Night card takes place at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio, on May 10.
Mma fighting.com

Hope Soa gets another win here in the UFC. Looking real good so far.

Good fight. Really pulling for Potts here. Heavyweight desperately needs some more good young talent.

A key welterweight fight between sluggers Matt Brown (18-11 MMA, 11-5 UFC) and Erick Silva (16-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) headlines the UFC’s May return to Ohio.

UFC official today confirmed the matchup following an initial report from FOX Sports.

The bout new serves as the featured contest of “UFC Fight Night 40: Brown vs. Silva,” which takes place May 10 at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati. The evening’s main card airs on FOX Sports 1 following preliminary bouts on UFC Fight Pass. The full lineup will be announced shortly.

Brown headlines a UFC event for the first time in his career while fighting in his home state of Ohio. The scrappy 33-year-old, who once hovered around .500 with his career record, has rewarded the UFC’s patience with him by responding with a six-fight winning streak.

Brazilian slugger Silva returns to action quickly following a 52-second drubbing of UFC newcomer Takenori Sato in February. The 29-year-old prospect has shown flashes of brilliance in a seven-fight UFC run but has struggled to find consistency in alternating wins and losses throughout his tenure.

The bulk of the May 10 card, including a welterweight headliner between Matt Brown (18-11 MMA, 11-5 UFC) and Erick Silva (16-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC), airs on FOX Sports 1 following a three-bout preliminary-card lineup on UFC Fight Pass.

The event takes place at U.S. Bank Arena. It’s the UFC’s first event in the city since UFC 77 in 2007, when local fighter Rich Franklin failed to reclaim the middleweight title from then-champ Anderson Silva.

Brown, a Xenia native who now trains out of Columbus, is the featured attraction this time around. The welterweight contender looks for his seventh straight win when he takes on Silva, a frequent fight-night bonus winner who looks to build off a recent knockout win over Takenori Sato.

UFC Fight Night 40′s co-headliner features middleweights Constantinos Philippou (12-4 MMA, 5-3 UFC) vs. Lorenz Larkin (14-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC).

The official UFC Fight Night 40 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1, 10 p.m. ET)

Matt Brown vs. Erick Silva
Lorenz Larkin vs. Constantinos Philippou
Daron Cruickshank vs. Erik Koch
William Macario vs. Neil Magny
Soa Palelei vs. Ruan Potts
Chris Cariaso vs. Louis Smolka
PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)

Ed Herman vs. Rafael Natal
Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Darrell Montague
Yan Cabral vs. Alexander Yakovlev
Johnny Eduardo vs. Eddie Wineland
PRELIMINARY CARD (Preliminary card, 6:30 p.m. ET)

Manny Gamburyan vs. Nik Lentz
Justin Salas vs. Ben Wall
Anthony Lapsley vs. Albert Tumenov
Mmajunkie.com

Silva/Brown should be a good one. I think Silva will take him out though.