Thiago Silva wil not be fighting on the UFC 117 card against Tim Boetsch as he has suffered a back injury while training for the bout. Instead, Sherdog is reporting that he will be replaced by Octagon newbie Todd Brown. Brown is bringing an 11-1 record into the bout, but has never faced UFC calibre fighters.

Boetsch has fought four times for the promotion, and is an even two and two but is coming off three straight wins outside the UFC. The MMA News will update this story as information comes out.

Update: MMAWeekly.com is confirming that Todd Brown (11-1) will replace Thiago Silva on the UFC 117 card against Tim Boetsch. The bout will stay on the preliminary card of the event.

Brown comes into the fight being undefeated in 8 bouts, which includes on no contest, with his last win in November of 2009 against Rodney Sleepers at a XXX Extreme Fighting – Proving Ground event.

Thiago Silva re-injured his back and is unable to fight Tim Boetsch at UFC 117.

Multiple sources close to the event today confirmed with MMAjunkie.com that Silva is benched and that a search for a replacement opponent is underway.

UFC 117 takes place Aug. 7 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., and features a headliner between middleweight champion Anderson Silva and challenger Chael Sonnen.

In just a few weeks, Brazilian light-heavyweight fighter Thiago Silva (14-2) will step back into the octagon to face Tim Boetsch (11-3) at UFC 117 in Oakland, Calif.

Silva is coming off a loss to UFC top contender and former champion Rashad Evans. It was a fight the Brazilian took with three herniated disks in his back which more than likely contributed to his unanimous decision loss.

Now Silva is healthy and looking to climb his way back up the UFC light-heavyweight division. Silva recently spoke to Tatame.com about his injury as well as his upcoming fight.

How are the trainings for your fight on UFC 117 going?
The training is good, it’s being very productive, the guys are committed and the expectations are high… The last time I fought was seven month ago, right? It’s time, I’m ready. He’s a good wrestler, a good banger, has a good boxing, but my strategy is settled.

You had an injury on your fight with Rashad Evans. Is your recovery done? Are you going to be 100% for this fight?
My recovery was good. I found out I had three hernias and it disturbed me a bit because I couldn’t get back to my trainings, I had to stop and take care of myself, but I’m fine now. I did physiotherapy every single day and it became a routine thing for me, but my back is good, I’m training hard, so the expectations are high. I’ll get back at my best.

You are coming from a loss to Rashad, who will probably be the next challenger for the belt. How do you see yourself on the division currently?
I see myself as an athlete with a potential to be developed and that, despite the injury, is working hard to compensate it. I don’t choose my opponents, I fight with whoever they tell me to, but I want to fight the bests. From this fight on, I want to fight the tops again.

After suffering his fourth straight loss, light heavyweight battlehorse Keith Jardine was released from his UFC contract according to MMAFighting.com. UFC President Dana White confirmed the story to the site today, hoping to bring the Dean on Mean back if he wins a few fights outside of The UFC.

Jardine, a five year veteran of the UFC was an alumni of the second season of The Ultimate Fighter and surprised the MMA world on two occasions by defeating Forrest Griffin at UFC 66 and former champion Chuck Liddell at UFC 76. Many saw The Dean of Mean as a title contender, but his downward skid in the division began at UFC 84 when Wanderlei Silva brutally knocked him out in thirty-six seconds. Despite a rebound victory over Brandon Vera at UFC 89, Jardine then lost to Quinton Jack by decision at UFC 96, Thiago Silva by knockout at UFC 102, Ryan Bader by knockout at UFC 110, and a tough split decision loss to Matt Hamill at the Ultimate Fighter Finale.

Jardine has fought some undeniably tough competition in the UFC, and would be a valuable add-on for a promotion like Strikeforce or Bellator.

Following Thursday's official announcement of UFC 117 and three main-card bouts, including a headliner of UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen, UFC officials have unveiled the night's preliminary card.

MMAjunkie.com previously reported most of the matchups, including light heavyweights Thiago Silva vs. Tim Boetsch and welterweights Dustin Hazelett vs. Rick Story.

A new addition, though, is light heavyweight Rodney Wallace vs. UFC newcomer Stanislav Nedkov.

Like many wrestlers who begin acquiring standup skills and have success in the striking department, Rashad Evans found himself more and more comfortable on his feet.

But in his two most recent appearances - unanimous-decision wins against Thiago Silva in January and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson this past weekend at UFC 114 - the former Michigan State wrestler returned to his roots.

And for those who complain that it's a lay-and-pray style light on entertainment value, Evans has a message for you: Get used to it.

A couple of welterweight fighters have made verbal agreements to face one another in the octagon as part of UFC 117 later this summer.

Fighting in only his second UFC bout Charlie Brenneman (12-1) will face undefeated Johny Hendricks (8-0) and their bout is expected to be part of the night’s preliminary card.

UFC 117 is expected to happen on Aug. 7 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. and is headlined by a UFC middleweight title bout between champion Anderson Silva vs. top contender Chael Sonnen.

Brenneman earned a unanimous decision victory over Jason High in his promotional debut in March as part of the UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Gomi event. He may be a familiar face to some as he was the first season winner of the “Pros vs. Joes” reality show. He’s won his past six fights since his only loss back in Sept. of 2008.

Meanwhile, Hendricks has gone undefeated so far in his professional career with victories in both Zuffa promotions, the UFC and WEC. He earned a majority decision over T.J. Grant at the recent UFC 113, he holds victories over Ricardo Funch and Amir Sadollah fighting in the UFC.

The latest UFC 117 rumored card appears as follows:

Main Card

- Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen (for middleweight title)*
- Thiago Alves vs. Jon Fitch*
- Junior Dos Santos vs. Roy Nelson*
- Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Hughes*
- Rafael dos Anjos vs. Clay Guida*

Preliminary Card

- Tim Boetsch vs. Thiago Silva*
- Dustin Hazelett vs. Rick Story*
- Charlie Brenneman vs. Johny Hendricks*
- Dennis Hallman vs. Ben Saunders*

* – Not officially announced

HT: MMAjunkie.com

Here’s the latest predictions from my warped view of the upcoming UFC 114 card.
There’s five fights scheduled for the main PPV portion of the card and two fights slated to air on Spike TV. First up will be the Quick Hit predictions on the fights not slated for air, then the Spike TV fights and finally the PPV card.

Quick Hit’s

Ryan Jensen over Jesse Forbes.
Aaron Riley over Joe Brammer.
Luiz Cane over Cyrille Diabate
Melvin Guillard over Waylon Lowe

Spike TV fights

Efrain Escudero (13-1) vs. Dan Lauzon (12-3).
Escudero was one of the more highly touted fighters to come off The Ultimate Fighter reality show in recent memory. In his three post TUF bouts, he’s 2-1 and coming off a loss via submission in his last outing.

Lauzon is 0-2 in his two appearances in the UFC and the latest news on him is that he and his now former training camp have had an ugly split.

Prediction: Escudero over Lauzon.

Amir Sadollah (4-1) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (12-0-1, 1 NC)

Again we have another TUF winner in Sadollah. Sadollah has won his fights either via submission or decision. His one loss was a TKO.

Kim has two decisions and a TKO for his three wins in the UFC.

Prediction: Kim over Sadollah by unanimous decision.

PPV Main Card

Welterweight bout: Diego Sanchez (23-3) vs. John Hathaway (13-0).

After a three-fight foray in the Lightweight division, Sanchez is back in the welterweight division. His last fight saw him stopped by BJ Penn in the lightweight title bout at UFC 107.

Hathaway has won two straight decisions in his UFC run. All three of his bouts have been overseas and he’s looking to make an impression on a USA audience.

Prediction: Sanchez over Hathaway by unanimous decision.

Heavyweight bout: Todd Duffee (6-0) vs. Mike Russow (12-1-0, 1 NC).

Duffee’s UFC debut lasted all of six seconds before Duffee notched the fastest knockout in UFC history.

Russow is also making his second trip into the Octagon after picking up a win over Justin McCulley at UFC 102 via unanimous decision.

Prediction: Duffee over Russow by technical knockout.

Light-Heavyweight bout: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (18-3-0) vs. Jason Brilz (18-2-1).

Nogueria was originally slated to face UFC poster boy Forrest Griffin at this event. But a shoulder injury to Griffin opened the door for Brilz.

Brilz has won 3 of 4 fights in the UFC. Nogueira has a TKO win in his lone fight in the UFC but has won pretty much everywhere he’s competed.

Prediction: Nogueira over Brilz via KO.

Co-Main Event

Middleweight bout: Michael Bisping (19-3) vs. Dan Miller (11-3-0, 1 NC).

Bisping, another TUF winner, is fighting to keep his status as the MMA poster boy across the pond. If not to stay relevant, never mind being in title contention.

Miller is looking to take a step up the ladder and Bisping is a big enough name to do that against.

Bisping’s been fighting at 185 pounds since losing to Rashad Evans at 205 at UFC 78 in November of 2007. He came out hot winning three straight fights at 185 before he ran into Dan Henderson at UFC 100.

Let’s just say that Bisping had a good nap that evening.

He bounced back with a TKO win over veteran Denis Kang at UFC 105 in his home country of England. He then lost a close decision to Wanderlei Silva in Sydney, Australia at UFC 110 in February.

Being 1-2 in his last three fights, “The Count” needs a win desperately.

Miller has lost two straight fights to guys that have either challenged for the middleweight title (Damien Maia) or will challenge for the belt (Chael Sonnen).

He also needs to pick up a win or it might mean the end of his run in the UFC.

Prediction: Bisping over Miller by unanimous decision.

MAIN EVENT

A LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT GRUDGE MATCH
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (30-7) vs. “Suga” Rashad Evans (19-1-1)

This all started easily enough. At UFC 96, Jackson beat Keith Jardine a teammate of Evans.

At the time Evans had the belt at 205 and it appeared that Jackson would be the first challenger in line to take a shot at Evans.

That didn’t happen and Evans suffered the first loss of his career to Lyoto Machida.

Then the two aficionados trash talk were picked as coaches for Season 10 of TUF to hype a fight between the two at the end of that season.

The fight still didn’t happen. Rampage went off to Canada to film the upcoming A-Team moive. Evans beat Thiago Silva at UFC 108.

Now, finally, here we are. UFC 114: Rampage vs. Evans.

I still think a wildcard in this fight could be which one of these guys remembers that they have a base in wrestling.

I expect both to be launching bombs disguised as overhand rights or left hooks but I think both will be aware of that and Plan B may have to be used for one to finish the fight.

Prediction: I like Evans to remember his takedown skills and get Jackson in a Ground N Pound situation.

Rampage is bigger but I like Evans’ speed in this fight.

Prediction: Evans over Jackson via TKO.

Now watch there be a KO in the first 30 seconds. That’d be just my luck.

Until Next Time

I’m Q

CYA

“Words are important, I thank you for hearing my words.” George Carlin.

“I thought it was amazing, I was really glad. Shogun is a guy I respect, he helped me a lot on Chute Boxe, also Dida… They have always been on my side, I’m very glad, independently he is part of my division. I loved to see his knockout over Lyoto, it made me even happier about it,” laughs Thiago.

Thiago Silva (14-2) is preparing to return to the octagon at UFC 117 later this summer against Tim Boetsch, who makes his return to the UFC after three victories outside the organization. After losing to Rashad Evans at UFC 108, Silva is training hard for this fight and will look to put on a good show on Aug. 7.

“I’m training hard and I’m ready, it’s about time. I’m 100% ready to make a good show, I’ll train hard to win”.

HT: Tatame.com

Thomas Gerbasi, UFC- From his emergence in 2005 as the winner of The Ultimate Fighter's second season and his title-winning effort over Forrest Griffin in December of 2008, to his losing of the crown to Lyoto Machida and subsequent comeback win over Thiago Silva, Rashad Evans has certainly had an interesting UFC career thus far.