UFC Rio Live Silva Vs. Okami: 5 Reasons You Have to Watch This Event

UFC 134 will be live Saturday night from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. .

With the event being held in Rio, it will be a homecoming for many Brazilian fighters on the card.

The card features former champions Mauricio “Shogun" Rua, Forrest Griffin, and Antonio “Rodrigo” Nogueira, as well as up-and-comers Ross Pearson, Edson Barboza, and Brendan Schaub.

The main event will feature the highly anticipated rematch between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Japan’s Yushin Okami.

UFC 134 will have many fireworks and is sure to be a talked about card. Here are some reasons why you can’t miss this one. 

It’s only the second time the UFC has been in Brazil

Despite Brazil being the home to many great fighters in the UFC, including Anderson Silva and Jose Aldo, this will only be the second time in UFC’s history that an event will be held there.

The last time the UFC was in Brazil was in 1998 for UFC Ultimate Brazil. The event may be most known as the even that Vitor Belfort KO’ed Wanderlei Silva in 44 seconds.

If this event is a success, it should open the door for more events to take place in Brazil in the near future.

Antonio Rodrigo Noguera Makes His Return to Brazil

Despite holding titles in Pride FC and the UFC, training some of the top stars in MMA today, and being one of the greatest heavyweights in MMA history, Big Nog has never had a pro fight in his home country of Brazil.

Noguera has been out for over a year recovering from multiple surgeries and injuries.

At age 35, Noguera’s best days may be behind him, but he should not be underestimated, especially since he’ll be looking to make a big impression in Brazil. 

Some of the UFC's Rising Stars Will Be Looking to Make a Statement

Brendon Schaub, Ross Pearson, and Edson Barboza are all looking to make a huge impact at UFC 134.

Schaub is taking on MMA legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, while Pearson and Barboza will scrap it out with each other.

TUF season 9 winner Pearson will have a tall task ahead of him as Barboza is a perfect 8-0 and has finished all of his fights except one. Pearson himself is a tough challenge for any lightweight.

Schaub on the other hand is facing another MMA great who may be past his prime. If Schaub wins, he will move up the heavyweight ladder a little bit, but still needs to face some tougher competition.

Forrest Griffin vs Shogun Rua II

The first time former light heavyweight champions Forrest Griffin and Mauricio Rua met, Griffin got the better of the exchange, submitting Shogun in the third round.

Rua injured his knee in the fight, eventually needing surgery for it.

Griffin is coming off a win against Rich Franklin, while Rua lost the UFC light heavyweight title in his most recent fight to Jon Jones.

Despite the loss, expect Rua to be highly motivated and ready to bring the fight to Griffin. Both men know how to put on exciting fights, and this one should be no different. 

Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami will get to settle the score

Yushin Okami is the last man to beat Anderson Silva. 

The only problem is, his win came because Silva was disqualified due to an illegal up-kick. 

Since that fight Okami has fought his way through some of the UFC's best to finally get a title shot, while Silva won the UFC's middleweight championship along with 14 straight fights. 

Neither Silva nor Okami want any controversy this time around, and both should be looking to take the other out.

Be sure to tune in to Bleacher Report UFC and Bleacher Report MMA for updates and other UFC 134 news.