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Joe Silva planning March return for Erick Silva

ESPN staff
January 5, 2013
Erick Silva had been due to fight Jay Hieron © Getty Images
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Erick Silva will be fight again as early as March, after being forced to pull out of UFC 156 due to injury.

Silva had been set to face Jay Hieron on February 2, but leg and elbow problems limited his training, allowing Strikeforce welterweight Tyron Woodley to step in.

The year of 2013 is expected to be a big one for Silva, who has 170lb title aspirations, and he claims matchmaker Joe Silva will place him on a March card after the duo held talks.

"Joe told me that I could come back at an event in March," Silva is quoted as saying by MMA Junkie.

"Doctors instructed me to train lighter, and as there are only four weeks to the fight on February 2, I knew I would not be 100 per cent until the day of the fight.

"It was a high-level fight, and I cannot enter it while training at only 50 per cent."

The identity of Silva's new opponent is not yet known, but a March appearance does open the possibility of him fighting on the UFC 158 card, which is stacked with fellow welterweights and headlined by Georges St-Pierre v Nick Diaz.

Two new fights have recently been confirmed by the UFC for that March 16 event, wtih Daron Cruickshank - fresh off a Knockout of the Night - meeting John Makdessi, who recently outboxed Sam Stout.

Also added is a bout between Dan Miller and former Strikeforce man Jordan Mein. Mein has only lost once in his last nine outings but faces a former middleweight in Miller.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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