Dana White Confirms Lombard vs. Stann and Shogun vs. Silva

Former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard has his first opponent in the UFC, and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua knows his next foe as well.

UFC president Dana White on Sunday took Twitter on Sunday, fielding questions from fans, and confirmed that Lombard will make his Octagon debut against Brian Stann, while Shogun will next square off with Thiago Silva.

White refrained from saying when or where either fight would take place. It appears, however, that Lombard vs. Stann is likely for UFC on Fox 4, while Shogun vs. Silva could take place at UFC 149 in Calgary, according reports by MMAJunkie.com.

Lombard is one of the most highly anticipated UFC debutants in quite some time. The 34-year-old has long been considered one of the best middleweight outside of the Octagon, but now he’ll get the opportunity to prove just how good he is in the Octagon.

He hasn’t lost a fight in nearly six years, riding a 20-fight winning streak to a 31-2-1 overall record.

Lombard hasn’t drawn an easy first fight. Stann (12-4) has lost only to No. 1 contender Chael Sonnen since dropping to middleweight, where he currently holds a 4-1 record.

Shogun (20-6) has made a pattern of alternating wins and losses recently, and is coming into the fight with Silva on the heels of dropping a unanimous decision to Dan Henderson at UFC 139.

Silva (14-3) just returned from a one-year suspension for providing a fake sample for his drug test following a fight with Brandon Vera at UFC 125. He lost in the main event of UFC on Fuel TV 2 to Alexander Gustafsson, when the two squared off in Sweden.

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