UFC 134 Fight Card: Rousimar Palhares Vs. Dan Miller Added To Spike Telecast

UFC officials have announced an adjustment to the broadcast schedule of UFC 134’s undercard. A middleweight bout between Rousimar Palhares (12-3) and Dan Miller (13-5) has been slotted into the Spike TV telecast, displacing a welterweight bout between Paulo Thiago (13-3) and David Mitchell (11-1) to the Facebook preliminaries.

The promotion announced the news early Monday morning. No explanation for the switch has been given.

Erick Silva will be making his UFC debut after compiling an undefeated record since 2006. In his last fight, the 27-year-old Brazilian defeated Francisco Ayon to win the inaugural Jungle Fight welterweight title. A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, Silva has finished opponents in nine of his twelve victories.

No replacement opponent has been revealed by UFC officials. However, promotion officials ensured that the announcement would be coming shortly.

Updated UFC 134 card:

The Brazilian Alcantar will have the home field advantage. He’ll bring an 11 fight win streak into his UFC debut. He beat Ricardo Lamas via TKO at WEC 53. That fight was contested at lightweight so Alcantar will be cutting 10 lbs to make the featherweight limit.

Carvalho is also new to the Octagon. He beat UFC veteran Doug Evans via decision in his last bout. He’s got a lot of experience fighting in Japan and owns notable wins over Hatsu Hioki, Takeshi Inoue and Rumina Sato.

As Sherdog Jordan Breen noted on Twitter, this is an exciting test of a talented prospect in addition to being a measuring stick for Swick coming off of injuries and consecutive losses.

Nogueira has been sidelined after receiving knee surgery while Schaub has remained active. One also has to acknowledge the slow but steady path of opponents Schaub has faced and defeated makes this an intriguing bout. It’s a winnable fight for Schaub and possibly the kind of win that would allow him to shed the “prospect” status in favor of full-fledged contender. Let’s hope, however, matters don’t become problematic if teammate Shane Carwin defeats Junior dos Santos and Schaub defeats Nogueira.

Falcao’s problems are hard to understand, but MMA Junkie tries to lay them out:

Scott Haber of BloodyElbow adds a few details:

First, a major addition to the card. There will be a rematch between former UFC light heavyweight champions Forrest Griffin and Mauricio Rua:

Early Friday morning, UFC president Dana White confirmed the bout to MMA Fighting.

If you’re doing the math, 80kg is approximately 176lbs. Gracie could fight at either welterweight or middleweight or even more likely, catchweight.

Ordinarily I’d be very opposed to the idea of Gracie continuing to compete. His game is in no way prepared for MMA in 2011. He’s long since past his expiration date as a competitive athlete and his last MMA fight in June of 2007 was marred by a lackluster performance followed by a positive test for steroid use. Gracie also never formally addressed the punishments handed down by the California State Athletic Commission, thereby making him likely ineligible to fight anywhere in the U.S. or North America.