Not long after the ink dried on his new four-fight contract, veteran welterweight Paulo Thiago has been tasked with turning away Mike Rhodes at the UFC Fight Night 51 mixed martial arts (MMA) event on FOX Sports 1, which takes place on Sept. 13, 2014 inside Nilson Nelson Gymnasium in Brasilia.
Combate reported the news on Saturday.
Thiago (15-7) is probably best known for knocking out Josh Koscheck in his Octagon debut way back in 2009, but not much else. Despite showing early promise, the Brazilian cop is a dismal 2-6 since strangling Mike Swick over four years ago.
He was last seen dropping a unanimous decision against the unheralded Gasan Umalatov back in May.
Not that it has been all wine and roses for Rhodes (6-3), who joined the promotion last January and is already on thin ice. After George Sullivan outpointed him back at UFC on FOX 10, Robert Whittaker did likewise in New Zealand, sending "Biggie" to the dreaded 0-2 hole.
Loser leaves town?
UFC Fight Night 51 will be headlined by a heavyweight rematch pitting Brazilian "Bigfoot," Antonio Silva, against former 265-pound kingpin Andrei Arlovski (details). "The Pitbull" is looking to avenge a unanimous decision loss under the Strikeforce banner from 2010.
Stay tuned for more UFC Fight Night 51 fight announcements in the coming weeks.