Vitor Belfort has been forced to pull out of his scheduled MW title fight against Anderson Silva due to injury. Vitor had this to say in an interview with Esporte:
“You can’t describe something indescribable. Everyone is upset but I think they understand the situation. It’s part of the life and I will come back stronger after this. This situation gives me more wish to become the champion. Soon I will be fighting for the belt and doing what is need. I just want to thank the support and endearment from the fans. I only ask everyone to root for my recovery. It’s hard to speak over it. It’s like the saying ‘the past is a bounced check, the future is a dated check and the present is money in the hand.’ I have to look ahead. I know I have a brilliant career to come. It came until I couldn’t stand the pain anymore. I was sacrificing myself too much. Then I went through MRI scan and the doctor said I couldn’t put off the surgery otherwise I wouldn’t continue working. It could be worse if I fought with my shoulder less than 50% good. Surely It would be a terrible performance and might mean an injury for the rest of my life. I think I did the right thing now.”
Chael Sonnen is not an option according to Kevin Iole:
“Sonnen said Friday he had a discussion with UFC matchmaker Joe Silva and will not be offered the fight. UFC president Dana White said Friday that Silva will remain on the card, but said he still does not have an opponent. There aren’t a lot of viable options, particularly if Silva defends his middleweight title rather than taking a non-title bout as a light heavyweight.”
UPDATE:
Demian Maia will be taking the place of Vitor Belfort at UFC 112. Maia was issued a medical suspension until August 6th due to a laceration on his upper eyelid but considering this event will be held in Abu Dhabi, the UFC will conduct their own medical clearances. Maia was also a multiple time winner at Abu Dhabi Combat Club so this choice does make sense in that regard.
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I’m not surprised Chael isn’t in the running for this fight. He’s on medical suspension and likely wants a full training camp to prepare for a bout with Silva.
It’ll be interesting to see if the UFC will really keep him on the card.
Yeah that cut was pretty nasty, i think he got a 1 month suspension and I agree he needs a full camp if he stand any chance against Silva. The thing is they want Anderson defending his title at MW because his last fight was 205 so that eliminates a lot of possibilities.
I want to see Okami in there, even though he lost to Sonnen, he was promised a title shot years ago. I know its bad marketing because people are unaware of Okami, but they might be able to sell it as Anderson avenging the loss.
yeah i guess it was wishful thinking wanting Sonnen to get right back in there, especially with a certified killer like Anderson. i dont even think Chael has much of a shot at beating Anderson, i just wanna see a new face fighting for a title.
Looks like Maia will get the shot at Silva. Wanted to see Silva fight Sonnen, so obviously still going to root that he gets past Maia.
I hope for Maia – but he will lose badly. I don’t see it making it out of the first round.
Maia needs striking wrestling training for another year before a title shot.. he hasn’t seasoned enough unfortunately.
Agreed Kansas, Maia needs to get this fight to the ground, but he couldnt even take Miller down. Anderson is so quick on his feet i just dont see it happening, then add his precision counter punching and you’ve got a recipe for disaster… for Maia hehe.
I would have rather seen them reschedule Silva so he can wait for Sonnen. Not that i think Chael would win, but he poses some interesting problems for Silva and he can be very effective with his strategy. Will he be able to take Anderson down at will and hold him down for 25 min? haha i doubt it, but I wanted to see him try.
I just hope Maia doesn’t get cut. I would cry.
Maia is the best BJJ guy in the UFC bar none.. that being said, he hasn’t got the skillset to avoid the clinch and evade the long reach/legs of Anderson Silva. Anderson will pick him apart with distance oriented strikes.
After a few minutes of these deflating strikes and several unsuccessful takedown attempts Maia will lose confidence, Anderson will see it in his eyes, the look of defeat, that knowing that he absolutely is in over his head, and Anderson will press Maia to the cage wall, impliment the Thai plum and strike him into defeat – it will be a messy ending – unless of course Anderson accidently Ko’s Maia during the feeling out process with one of his elusive and belittling “forrest” punches.. lol
All that being said – I am rooting for Maia – love his fight game, wish his striking and mainly his defence was better.
There’s just no way that Maia has anything for Silva. He loses on size, strength, and most of all striking. If he was embarrassed by his performance against Nate Marquardt, I think this fight will go down in the exact same way.
It’s no wonder the Silva camp is happy about this match-up, it gets to pro-long Silva’s “invincibility factor”.
This is likely to be a repeat of Silva/Leitas. Maia will lay on his back inviting Silva all night. Trully pathetic.
Once again, the UFC doesn’t give the fans what they want.
This is such bs. Like an overwhelming majority of fans, I’d prefer watching a non-title fight at 205lbs.
against a LEGIT A-LEVEL FIGHTER!!!
wow everyone is writing this one off as Silva vs Leites 2, i really dont think (at least i hope) Maia wont be dumb enough to just lay down a hope Anderson crawls into a triangle. if i was Maia’s coach i would tell him to go in there be hyper aggressive and swing away and you never know if he can get Anderson on his heels he could get the takedown, if he goes out in a blaze of glory at least people will respect him a heck of a lot more then Leites.
yeah its too bad we gotta see Maia get worked over. i really like Maia but he has a BIG mountain to climb…. having said that and reading everyone’s comments on the subject, i cant help but to think GSP vs. Serra 1. i really dont see Maia pulling off the HUUUUGE upset like Serra did, but i remember people writing off Serra (including me) right up until GSP was in the fetal position begging the ref to stop it.
happy family day to everyone!… im not sure if my American friends celebrate this holiday but whatever, happy family day anyways!
is there a real family day?over here its presidents day today.
yes its a really, real holiday. it is so people can get a day off work to hang with there kids without losing pay….. although its tough to do anything fun because everything is closed lol.
they sounds really nice.
LOL…St. Pierre/ Serra 1? that’s like saying Tito Ortiz will fight Chuck Liddell again…oh wait…
Guys Maia will be looking to pull guard IMO. Theres no lucky punch thing happening, no struggling for takedowns. Anderson has a 5″ reach advantage, so if Maia is getting pelted trying to get inside i doubt he will
“attempt a takedown” which will probably be thwarted. If he does manage to get close enough without getting caught in the thai clinch, he had better jump on him and hold on for dear life. If Anderson doesnt go to the ground after that, he should go for the jungle gym flying sub attempt a la Imada vs Masvidal. But I suspect Anderson will go to the ground if Maia is pulling guard.