When it was initially announced that Vitor Belfort was getting the next crack at UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva, everyone from Ed Soares to Belfort himself acknowledged that this was at least partially bullshit. The good news is that, with Anderson Silva still sidelined due to a lingering injury, Belfort looks like he'll get his chance to prove he deserves the shot in a top contender bout with Nate Marquardt. Think of it as a rare instance of an injury pullout by a UFC champ resulting in a fight that probably makes more sense than the original title contest. When you think about how often this type of thing has been happening to the UFC of late, it only makes sense that sooner or later it would have to turn out to be a blessing in disguise. That's just the law of averages at work.
Rumored but never confirmed I believe. With all the injuries and fallouts they've had lately with main events, this matchup makes sense as a headliner or co-main event.
I like Nate 60/40 in a matchup vs. Vitor, to be honest. He's not going to be intimidated, he can take a shot, and he's got the muscle and technique to control Belfort. As long as he can get past those hand cannons Belfort calls fists.
_______________________________________ "It is a shame that in this society we've been taught to judge a man's worth by what he owns instead of who he is." - Evan Tanner
im tired of all the chaos that is the MW division.
i wish they would just start from scratch and set up a tourney or something, that way we wouldnt have to read a different story everyday about whos fighting who
I think that we can still assume that Vitor and Anderson are still going to fight, just not at UFC 109 like originally planned due to the healing process of Anderson's surgery taking longer than expected.
"A few of Silva's detractors have suggested the champ is avoiding a fight with Belfort while allowing a new middleweight contender to emerge. Soares, Silva's manager, insisted in October that Silva will fight Belfort as soon as possible."
I don't think that Silva's managers would be making these claims public unless it was confirmed by both themselves and Belfort's managers.
im tired of all the chaos that is the MW division.
i wish they would just start from scratch and set up a tourney or something, that way we wouldnt have to read a different story everyday about whos fighting who
i really think the blame has to be put on Anderson and his management....if they didn't throw a monkey wrench into everything the UFC tried to do with the MW class, there wouldn't be so many stories.
I mean honestly, who are they to say Vitor shouldn't get a title shot after 1 win, Anderson got a title shot after 1 win....and he beat a much weaker fighter in Leben, than Belfort did (Franklin) to earn it.
Last edited 12/1/09 7:32PM by xdanish020 Edit note/reason: n/a 2 total post edits
I'm drooling like a bulldog in heat, this is a fight I want to see. This should be a war and a much better fight then Belfort/Silva. A lot of things can happen between these two fighters but I guarantee everybody will be satisfied.
