As its second United States event draws near, Khabib
Nurmagomedov-led promotion Eagle FC has made a slew of big-name
signings.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos
Santos has signed with the organization and will meet follow
Octagon vet Yorgan De
Castro in the heavyweight headliner of an Eagle FC card on May
20. Additionally, new additions Hector
Lombard and Thiago
Silva will lock horns in the co-main event. Nurmagomedov
confirmed the bookings to
ESPN on Wednesday.
Dos Santos, 38, was released by the UFC on the heels of a four-bout
losing streak, which included a second-round TKO defeat to Ciryl Gane
in his last outing in December 2020. “Cigano” was regarded as one
of the Las Vegas-based promotion’s top heavyweights for years,
claiming championship gold with a 64-second knockout of Cain
Velasquez at UFC on Fox 1 in November 2011. More recently, the
Brazilian veteran was supposed to face boxing heavyweight contender
Kubrat Pulev in a mixed rules bout under the Triad Combat banner in
February before that event was canceled.
A four-time UFC vet, De Castro made his promotional debut on Jan.
28, when he submitted Shaun Asher
1:04 into Round 1 of their bout at Eagle FC 44. The former CES MMA
competitor went 1-3 in UFC competition, whith his lone victory
coming via first-round KO against Justin
Tafa.
The 44-year-old Lombard hasn’t won an MMA bout since March 2014,
when he outpointed Jake Shields
at UFC 171. A former Bellator middleweight champion, “Lightning”
exited the UFC on the heels of a seven-bout winless streak. Since
then, he has competed four times under the BKFC banner with notable
wins over MMA veterans Joe Riggs and
Kendall
Grove.
The 39-year-old Silva hasn’t competed in MMA since a unanimous
decision loss to Martin
Zawada at KSW 49 in May 2019. The controversial Brazilian went
7-3 with two no contests in UFC competition from 2007 to 2013. The
promotion terminated Silva’s contract following an arrest in an
alleged domestic assault case, but the
charges were ultimately dropped. He has fought for a number of
organizations since his release including World Series of Fighting,
Absolute Championshp Berkut, KSW and Russian Cagefighting
Championship.
Eagle FC 46 is slated for Friday in Miami with a card headlined by
a 165-pound clash between Kevin Lee and
Diego
Sanchez.