Brazilian Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight
Joaquim
Silva is getting a home game for the first time in ages.
A lightweight scrap between Silva (13-4) and Drakkar
Klose (14-2-1) has been added to the UFC 301
card. The show is slated to take place on May 4 at the Jeunesse
Arena in Rio de Janeiro. The news was first reported by Silva’s
management, Iridium
Sports Agency, in a post on social media on Thursday. Silva
confirmed this 155-pound affair on his Instagram Stories
later on Thursday, with this being his first fight in his native
Brazil since September 2014.
Silva will enter the Octagon on the heels of a unanimous decision
win against longtime veteran Clay Guida in
December. This bounced him back into the win column, as he had
previously suffered a third-round knockout to top-ranked Arman
Tsarukyan that June. The lightweight known as “Netto BJJ” has
not notched a victory via submission in nearly a decade, with the
lion’s share of his triumphs in that stretch coming via
strikes.
Meanwhile, Klose will look to extend his three-fight winning
streak, most recently recording a first-round slam knockout of
Joe
Solecki in December. This was preceded by a unanimous decision
triumph against Rafa Garcia
at UFC
277, and a knockout of Brandon
Jenkins in April 2022.
UFC 301 is set to go down on May 4 at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de
Janeiro. Another confirmed matchup on the card will feature a
middleweight clash between rising talent Caio
Borralho and former light heavyweight competitor Paul Craig.