Thiago Silva vs. Chris Camozzi set for ACB 88 main event in Brisbane

Two UFC veterans will go head to head when Thiago Silva meets Chris Camozzi in the main event of ACB 88: Brisbane on Jun. 16.

ACB confirmed the light heavyweight bout with MMA Fighting on Wednesday.

Silva (20-7-0, 2 NC) will make his fifth outing under the ACB banner on the night. The fight will also mark the Brazilian’s first bout on Australian soil.

Silva has gone 2-2 with ACB over the last 18 months. He took a unanimous decision win over Jared Torgeson after five rounds in his debut, followed by a second-round TKO loss to Batraz Agnaev in the headline bout of ACB 65. Although he got back to winning ways with second-round TKO win over Jose Daniel Toledo Canellas, he regained parity with the promotion when he lost a split decision to Mikhail Kolobegov at ACB 82 in March.

“I’m very excited to go to Australia. It will be my first time there and the Australian people can expect a good fight as always. Expect an aggressive Thiago Silva and I will knock out Chris Camozzi!” Silva said ahead of the bout, according to an ACB press release.

Camozzi (24-13-0) has not competed in MMA since he was cut from the UFC after dropping three consecutive losses against Thales Leites, Daniel Kelly and Trevor Smith. Since his exit from the UFC, Camozzi has competed twice with kickboxing promotion Glory. He claimed a second-round TKO win over Kyle Weickhardt in his Glory debut, before losing a decision to Mike Lemaire at Glory 52 in late March.

Camozzi never competed as a light heavyweight during his broken seven-year stint with the UFC, where he complied a record of 9-10-0.

“Fighting in Australia is always amazing. The fans there are very knowledgeable and love mixed martial arts. I can’t wait to see Brisbane,” Camozzi said per ACB, ahead of his third fight in Australia.

ACB

Also booked for the night, another UFC veteran, Luke Barnatt (14-5-0) will look to make it two wins in a row with the promotion when he takes on surging Polish light heavyweight, Karol Celinski (15-6-1).

Like Silva, “The Bigslow” has gone 2-2 with ACB thus far. In his last fight, Barnatt banked a second-round victory over Maxim Futin to get back into the win column following his split decision loss to Scott Askham in the main event of ACB 70. He was stopped in his promotional debut when Polish legend Mamed Khalidov finished him in the first round of their ACB 54 main event clash. He replied to the defeat with a first-round TKO of his own against Max Nunes at ACB 63.

Celinski is unbeaten since signing with ACB in early 2017. He scored a third round win over Lukasz Parobiec to announce himself with the organization, followed by two consecutive decision wins over Vinny Magalhaes and Maxim Futin.

The event will mark the promotion’s second trip to Australia following ACB 76 at the Gold Coast Convention Center on Dec. 9 2017.