Junior dos Santos, Hector Lombard, Thiago Silva Sign with Eagle FC for May 20 Debut

As its second United States event draws near, Khabib Nurmagomedov-led promotion Eagle FC has made a slew of big-name signings.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos has signed with the organization and will meet follow Octagon vet Yorgan De Castro in the heavyweight headliner of an Eagle FC card on May 20. Additionally, new additions Hector Lombard and Thiago Silva will lock horns in the co-main event. Nurmagomedov confirmed the bookings to ESPN on Wednesday.

Dos Santos, 38, was released by the UFC on the heels of a four-bout losing streak, which included a second-round TKO defeat to Ciryl Gane in his last outing in December 2020. “Cigano” was regarded as one of the Las Vegas-based promotion’s top heavyweights for years, claiming championship gold with a 64-second knockout of Cain Velasquez at UFC on Fox 1 in November 2011. More recently, the Brazilian veteran was supposed to face boxing heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev in a mixed rules bout under the Triad Combat banner in February before that event was canceled.

A four-time UFC vet, De Castro made his promotional debut on Jan. 28, when he submitted Shaun Asher 1:04 into Round 1 of their bout at Eagle FC 44. The former CES MMA competitor went 1-3 in UFC competition, whith his lone victory coming via first-round KO against Justin Tafa.

The 44-year-old Lombard hasn’t won an MMA bout since March 2014, when he outpointed Jake Shields at UFC 171. A former Bellator middleweight champion, “Lightning” exited the UFC on the heels of a seven-bout winless streak. Since then, he has competed four times under the BKFC banner with notable wins over MMA veterans Joe Riggs and Kendall Grove.

The 39-year-old Silva hasn’t competed in MMA since a unanimous decision loss to Martin Zawada at KSW 49 in May 2019. The controversial Brazilian went 7-3 with two no contests in UFC competition from 2007 to 2013. The promotion terminated Silva’s contract following an arrest in an alleged domestic assault case, but the charges were ultimately dropped. He has fought for a number of organizations since his release including World Series of Fighting, Absolute Championshp Berkut, KSW and Russian Cagefighting Championship.

Eagle FC 46 is slated for Friday in Miami with a card headlined by a 165-pound clash between Kevin Lee and Diego Sanchez.