UFC 130: Matt Hamill Replaces Thiago Silva, Faces Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

We're just about 24 hours away from the return of Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko as he takes on Antonio Silva in the second quarterfinals of theStrikeforce Grand Prix Tournament, but on the UFC side of things, the Thiago Silva siuation has appeared to smooth itself out.

MMA Junkie reports that the situation is as follows:

The UFC has decided to not take any chances with potentially losing Silva from the UFC 130 card, so to err on the side of caution, Matt Hamill has withdrawn from his bout at UFC 129 and agreed to step in for Silva, who has been pulled from the planned fight with Rampage.

Yes, you read right—it's "The Hammer" facing "Rampage" at UFC 130 now, instead of Silva vs. Rampage.

For those who have not heard yet, as always, 15 participants—including UFC 130 headliners Gray "The Bully" Maynard and UFC lightweight champion Frankie "The Answer"—were subjected to drug tests after UFC 125 on New Year's Day, and 14 passed.

Only one was "still processing," and as immediately-released lightweight Antonio McKee was not among those tested, many felt that that could only leave Silva as the one who might have tested positive.

The Brazilian confirmed that one of the tests did in fact come out positive, though further details could not be confirmed.

In his place is the consummate fan-favorite Hamill of TUF 3 fame, who scored a tough-fought unanimous decision win at UFC 121 over his TUF 3 coach, and Team Punishment ally, Tito Ortiz.

Meanwhile, Rampage edged out a split-decision win over long-overdue opponent Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida at UFC 123—a bout in which Machida, according to Rampage himself, "whooped [his] ass!"

It will be interesting to see if this match will be in dried ink by the time UFC 129 fight week rolls around, and it will certainly be a fight not worth missing if—or perhaps, when—Hamill and Rampage finally collide