UFC QUOTABLES: Thiago Silva predicts a knockout win over Brandon Vera at UFC 125

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

"I think it'll be a great fight for me because he's a striker, he's much skilled, but I can also bang while standing and I think it must be a great fight and it'll be all on the stand up game? There'll be a knockout, you can bet on it. I was off the rigs for too long, but I'm back, healthy, training hard? My back is fine and the expectations are as high as they can get."

-UFC 125 main card fighter Thiago Silva talks to Tatame.com about his fight with Brandon Vera this Saturday in Las Vegas and his prediction for the end of the fight.

Penick's Analysis: Both fighters have been out for almost the entire year of 2010, so the layoff could be an equal detriment to both. However, Silva's coming back from a serious back injury, and with him returning at UFC 108 without being fully healed, hopefully he's fully recovered this time before getting in the cage. This is going to be a tough fight for both guys, and the loser of the fight is going to be another step closer to being out of the UFC, but it should be a close and hopefully entertaining fight on New Year's Day.

[Thiago Silva art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_7990.shtml

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