This has hardly being thrown to the wolves. Every person in the top ten right now aside from brown, has been thrown to the wolves.
It's because the welterweight division is crazy deep and the UFC often puts people they see making the top 10 in challenging fights. This is hardly being thrown to the wolves, particularly when Erick Silva was a champion of jungle fights and had a decent amount of experience.
The problem is Erick Silva isn't that good and is getting raped by the UFC gauntlet. Thus he's not UFC level to begin with. He's exciting but only because cans are being put in front of him. Put cans in front of any of the top 10 right now and these cans will get similarly lit up but even more so.
The problem is Erick Silva has a false sense of confidence because he's lighting up these cans. He just isn't that good and this talent that people are hyping him to have is an illusion. Its reminds me of people thinking Kimbo slice is good. He's great in a fighting league like jungle fights but in the UFC, he's either wins against cans or devastated against good fighters.
The only way I feel Erick proves himself to not be a can crusher is if they give him a challenging fight for his next fight. Giving him another can is only going to give him a false sense of confidence and repeat this cycles he's on.
I say Erick needs to be put in a do or die situation his next fight for him to improve. I suggest making him fight some one on the fringe of top 10 like Kampmann. If he loses cut him. This last loss should be a wake up call for his cardio and if he did lose to Kampmann, the loss would be likely a spectacular knock out. In such a case, he should be cut for his own sake. 3KO in 4 fights would be a signals he's not good enough for the UFC and staying would just put his own life in Danger.