UFC president Dana White has confirmed to USA Today that middleweight champion Anderson Silva will defend his title against Yushin Okami at UFC 134. The event takes place at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Earlier this week, former UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira mention the upcoming title fight in the Brazilian newspaper Extra.
Silva has not lost since being disqualified for landing an illegal up-kick against Okami in the first round of the Rumble on the Rock welterweight tournament in 2006. Since then, Silva has won 14-straight fights, captured the UFC middleweight title and become one of the top-two pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He holds UFC records for most title defenses (8) and consecutive wins in the UFC (13). During his run, he has defeated three former UFC champions, a former Pride FC champion and an ADCC champion.
Okami won his first-four fights in the UFC, before dropping a decision to former middleweight champion Rich Franklin. He then fought his way back into contention with three-straight wins over Jason MacDonald, Evan Tanner and Dean Lister. However, former WEC champion Chael Sonnen stopped his momentum with a decision victory at UFC 104.
Since losing to Sonnen, Okami has trained with his former opponent at Team Quest. He is currently riding a three-fight winning streak. In his last fight, he bested perennial middleweight contender Nate Marquardt at UFC 122.