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UFC Fight Night 51: Silva vs. Arlovski is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held on September 13, 2014 at Ginásio Nilson Nelson in Brasília, Brazil.
Official fight card
Main card (UFC Fight Pass)
Heavyweight Antônio Silva vs. Andrei Arlovski
Lightweight Gleison Tibau vs. Piotr Hallmann
Lightweight Leonardo Santos vs. Efrain Escudero
Welterweight Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Wendell Oliveira
Bantamweight Iuri Alcântara vs. Russell Doane
Women's Bantamweight Jéssica Andrade vs. Larissa Pacheco
Preliminary card (UFC Fight Pass)
Featherweight Godofredo Castro vs. Dashon Johnson
Welterweight Igor Araújo vs. George Sullivan
Lightweight Francisco Trinaldo vs. Leandro Silva
Welterweight Paulo Thiago vs. Sean Spencer
Bantamweight Rani Yahya vs. Johnny Bedford
Background
The event in Brasília will be the first that the organization has hosted in the Brazilian capital city.
The event is expected to be headlined by a heavyweight rematch between Antonio Silva and Andrei Arlovski. Their first fight at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery ended in a unanimous decision victory for Silva.
Paulo Thiago was expected to face Mike Rhodes at the event. However, Rhodes was forced out of the bout due to injury, and was briefly replaced by returning veteran Joe Riggs. On July 29, it was announced that Riggs had to pull out of the bout due to a gun accident with non-life threatening injuries in his house. On the same day Sean Spencer replaced Riggs as Thiago's new opponent.
Santiago Ponzinibbio was expected to face Sérgio Moraes at the event. However, Moraes pulled out of the bout citing a lingering knee injury. He was replaced by Wendell Oliveira.
Valérie Létourneau was expected to face Jéssica Andrade at the event. However, Létourneau pulled out of the bout citing an injury and was replaced by former Jungle Fight women's bantamweight champion Larissa Pacheco.
Promotional newcomer Łukasz Sajewski was expected to make his debut at the event against Leonardo Santos. Sajewski was removed from the card and Santos will now face Efrain Escudero. While Escudero's initial opponent Francisco Trinaldo will face Leandro Silva.