Pokrajac Replaces Injured Vera, Meets Thiago Silva at UFC on FX 3

Promotion officials announced Wednesday afternoon that Croatian light heavyweight Igor Pokrajac (Pictured) will fill the void left by an injured Brandon Vera on the May 15 card, squaring off with Silva at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va.

The bout joins two previously announced contests on the developing fight bill, as Donald Cerrone meets Yves Edwards at lightweight and Tom Lawlor clashes with Jason MacDonald in a middleweight affair.

Pokrajac, 33, has earned wins in three of his last four Octagon outings. The fighter was perfect in 2011, posting a TKO win over Todd Brown in March before knocking Krzysztof Soszynski cold in just 35 seconds on Dec. 10. A six-time UFC veteran, “The Duke” owns over half of his career victories by knockout.

Silva returns to the cage after spending a year on the shelf due to suspension. The Brazilian was last seen battering Vera at UFC 125, earning a one-sided unanimous decision over “The Truth” in January 2011. However, the American Top Team representative would later have his license revoked for a year after admitting he had used an adulterant to mask a banned substance in his post-fight urine sample.