- Hardcore fans are all about Siyar Bahadurzada being the favorite in his UFC debut, however Paulo Thiago (blue gloves) has faced and defeated far superior competition in his time with the UFC. (Photo courtesy of Sherdog)
After a month of flying under the MMA radar, the UFC presents UFC on Fuel TV: Gustafsson vs. Silva to whet the appetite of its fans prior to UFC 145 the following weekend. Thiago Silva (14-2, 1 NC) makes his return to the Octagon against Swedish killer “The Mauler” Alexander Gustafsson (13-1) as the main event following a stellar co-main involving “All-American” Brian Stann (11-4) and “Legionarius” Alessio Sakara (15-8). “One Hit” Brad Pickett (20-6) and “The Angel of Death” Damacio Page (15-6) will open the card before “The Darkness” DaMarques Johnson (15-9) squares off with “The One” John Maguire (17-3) and Dennis Siver (19-8) goes to war with “The Gun” Diego Nunes (17-2). However, the fight that has the hardcore MMA fan base salivating is an affair between Brazilian welterweight Paulo Thiago (14-3) and Afghan phenom “Siyar the Great” Siyar Bahadurzada (20-4-1). While most casual fans have likely not heard of “Siyar the Great”, he has made quite an impression on the sport’s diehards with dominant wins over “The Eraser” Derrick Noble (26-15), “The Natural” John Alessio (34-14), and “Cyborg” Evangelista Santos (18-15). Thiago is known mainly for his dark horse obliteration of “Kos” Josh Koscheck (17-5), but is still the young Afghan’s stiffest test to date. Continue reading »
