TATAME.com reported today that Vitor Belfort has injured his shoulder and will have to pull out of his title fight versus Anderson Silva scheduled to take place at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi on April 10th. While it is always disastrous when a main event fighter has to pull out of an event, the UFC does have time to find a replacement and give that fighter time to train for the fight.
But who will this replacement be? Chael Sonnen is supposed to get the next title shot but he is on medical suspension after being banged up by Nate Marquardt last week. Marquardt is coming off a loss to Sonnen so it is doubtful it will be him. A couple of other big names – Michael Bisping and Wanderlei Silva – will be dancing with each other next week. Yushin Okami is scheduled to fight on UFC Fight Night 21 in North Carolina (plus he’s coming off a loss). Which leaves one man – Demian Maia. Maia just beat Dan Miller last week and also has Sonnen on his past victim list. But Maia is medically suspended also. So unless Bisping/Silva come out of their fight unscathed and are willing to fight Anderson Silva on short notice, or if Sonnen or Maia can get medically cleared, it really is up in the air as to who will fight for the middleweight title. Any suggestions? Maybe Strikeforce will be nice and loan the UFC Dan Henderson or Gegard Mousasi! But it really doesn’t matter who gets the shot, because once the Spider spins his web, they’ll be in a world of trouble.
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