A pair of main card fights at UFC Vegas 29 feature potential future headliners and a pair of grizzled veterans.
UFC Vegas 29 preview: Wellington Turman vs. Bruno Silva
In a battle of Brazilian middleweights, UFC debutant Bruno Silva (19-6, 0-0 UFC) will take on 24-year-old UFC veteran Wellington Turman (16-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) on the main card.
Turman, who signed with the UFC in 2019 after a main event win in Brazil’s Future FC, has had a difficult start to his UFC tenure.
“The Prodigy” suffered a split-decision loss to the dangerous Karl Roberson (9-4) in his UFC debut, but rebounded nicely with a unanimous decision nod over former Legacy Fighting Alliance middleweight champion Markus Perez (12-5) later that year.
In his lone fight of 2020, Turman suffered a first-round TKO at the hands of Ultimate Fighter Season 23 winner Andrew Sanchez (12-6). Turman withdrew from bouts against Sean Strickland (23-3) and Aliaskhab Khizriev (13-0) due to COVID-19 and an injury.
Silva, 31, signed with the UFC in 2019 as the reigning M-1 Challenge middleweight champion. Defeating top Russian middleweights Alexander Shlemenko (61-13) and Artem Frolov (15-3) during his run in the promotion.
Originally scheduled to debut against wrestling standout Deron Winn (7-2) in the summer of 2019, Silva was suspended for two years by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), after testing positive for the anabolic steroid boldenone.
With his suspension served, Silva will finally make his long-awaited promotional debut against Turman in a fight that is sure to excite.
UFC Vegas 29 preview: Dhiego Lima vs. Matt Brown
A clash between experienced veterans will open the main card of UFC Vegas 29 when welterweights Dhiego Lima (15-8 MMA, 4-6 UFC) and Matt Brown (22-18 MMA, 15-12 UFC) square off at the UFC APEX Center.
Lima, 31, reached the finals of both Season 19 and 25 of The Ultimate Fighter. The latter of which was billed as a “redemption” season for past TUF competitors. The American Top Team Atlanta standout strung together three wins before falling short to ninth-ranked Belal Muhammad (19-3) in his most recent outing.
The Brazilian will look to get back on track against “The Immortal,” Matt Brown.
Brown, 40, has lost seven of his last ten fights. A fellow Ultimate Fighter competitor (Season 7), Brown has fought a who’s who of UFC welterweights. Including Stephen Thompson (16-4-1), Robbie Lawler (28-15), Demian Maia (28-11), and Johny Hendricks (18-8), among many others.
A fearsome striker with 14 knockouts to his name, Brown won back-to-back fights against Diego Sanchez (30-13) and Ben Saunders (22-13-2) before dropping consecutive fights to rising prospect Miguel Baeza (10-1) and fellow UFC welterweight stalwart Carlos Condit (32-13).
Brown will look to turn back the clock against Lima in an effort to snap his two-fight losing skid and return to the win column for the first time since 2019, on the main card opener.
–Field Level Media
