(The way Erick leaves the cage after a victory? Totally ripped off from Van Morrison. / Photo via Esther Lin @ MMAFighting)

After having his momentum slowed by a beast-mode version of Jon Fitch last month, Brazilian welterweight prospect Erick Silva will attempt to rebound against veteran Jay Hieron at UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar, February 2nd in Las Vegas. The UFC confirmed the booking last week.

Hieron is an unexpected choice for Silva’s return opponent, as the Thoroughbred is currently in the “hanging on by a thread” stage of his UFC career. When Hieron lost a unanimous decision to Jake Ellenberger during his promotional return fight in October, his lifetime UFC record dropped to 0-3 — which means that if Hieron loses this next fight, he’ll become just the fourth fighter in UFC history to go 0-4 in the Octagon, after Tiki Ghosn, Seth Petruzelli, and John Alessio. And trust me, brother, that is not a club you want to join.

(“Of course I remember what happened, Joe. Obviously, I was a groomsman in a gay Asian wedding.”)

It’s hard not to like Mark Hominick, or sympathize with the great personal loss that surely affected his last performance. It’s clear that the UFC likes him too — or else they wouldn’t give him a third consecutive fight in his home country, against an opponent with a 0-1 UFC record.

The promotion announced yesterday that Hominick will attempt to break his two-fight losing streak against Eddie “The Filipino Phenom” Yagin (15-5-1), a former Tachi Palace Fights featherweight champion who dropped a decision to Junior Assuncao during his Octagon debut at UFC 135. The Hominick/Yagin match will take place at UFC 145, March 24th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Before losing his title challenge to Jose Aldo in April and getting KO’d in seven seconds by Chan Sung Jung — with both losses taking place in Toronto — Hominick had won five straight fights, including wins over Bryan Caraway, Leonard Garcia, and George Roop.

In other UFC 145 booking news…