Travis Browne, Big Foot Silva To Headline UFC on FX 5

[No More Sorrow]

Heavyweights Travis Browne and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva will headline the UFC's return to Minnesota in October.

USA TODAY Sports on Thursday learned from UFC officials that Browne will fight Silva on Oct. 5 in the main event of UFC on FX 5, which will take place at the Target Center in Minneapolis.


Browne (13-0-1 MMA, 4-0-1 UFC) on Wednesday was forced off the FOX-broadcast main card of next week's "UFC on FOX 4: Shogun vs. Vera" event. But promotion officials have lessened the blow by rewarding the 6-foot-7 heavyweight his first headlining role.


The 30-year-old Browne had been expected to face Ben Rothwell (32-8 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at UFC on FOX 4, which takes place Aug. 4 at Los Angeles' Staples Center. However, an ankle injury forced Rothwell to withdraw from the event, and UFC officials were unable to secure Browne a suitable replacement in time.


An undefeated member of New Mexico's famed Jackson-Winkeljohn Fight Team, Browne owns consecutive octagon wins over Chad Griggs, Rob Broughton and Stefan Struve.


Silva (16-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC), a Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix semifinalist earlier this year, will fight for the second time under the UFC banner. The 6-foot-4 Brazilian in May fell short in a No. 1 contenders fight against Cain Velasquez and now looks to rebound from that first-round TKO loss.


In addition to the night's headlining bout, "UFC on FX 5: Browne vs. Bigfoot" is expected to feature three other contests on the FX-broadcast main card. Preliminary-card bouts will air on FUEL TV.


The UFC has not visited Minneapolis since UFC 87, a pay-per-view event in August 2008. UFC on FX 5 originally was planned for Sept. 7 in Indianapolis. But venue complications earlier this month precipitated a change in both the date and location.

I have no idea where this fight came from lol, so random. The UFC did kind of Owe Browne, as he's been on a nice streak lately and his fight with Ben Rothwell was cancelled for UFC on Fox 4 just last week.

Anyways, good fight and a good opportunity for Browne here. If Silva overlooks him, he's going to be in for a long night.

 

[Deezy]

Silva will lose if this guy puts him on his back.

 

[Slim]

I'm sad cause I wanted to see Big Ben vs. Browne. But hey this is a good interesting fight and it is on FX so I'll be able to catch it. But this is definitely a random fight but it should still be a good one. But I'm going Browne for this one.

 

[No More Sorrow]

I like Browne, but i have a feeling Bigfoot is going to be looking to prove something in this fight. Not saying he'll win, but he's going to have to give the UFC a reason not to cut him.

 

[Troy]

Good opportunity for Travis Browne. It will be tough against Bigfoot who will need to put in a good performance but it could be a huge scalp for Browne.