doctorword Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 Not again. Vitor Belfort has reportedly suffered an undisclosed injury and has been forced to withdraw from his UFC 122 "title eliminator" fight against Yushin Okami on Nov. 13 in Oberhausen, Germany, according to MMA Weekly. Stepping in for "The Phenom" will be former division number one contender Nate Marquardt, who will now face "Thunder" in the main event of the Spike TV telecast after a "Great" performance against Rousimar Palhares at UFC Fight Night 22 earlier this month. Opportunity once again came knocking, thanks largely in part to a dreadful year for the hard-hitting Brazilian. After a lingering shoulder injury became too much to bear, Belfort pulled out of his UFC 112 middleweight title fight against reigning division champion Anderson Silva at the Concert Arena from Ferrari World, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, back on April 10. Star-divide It was the second time his bout with "The Spider" was postponed. They were initially penciled in to collide at UFC 108 earlier this year; however, minor elbow surgery for Silva postponed the all-Brazilian brawl until Spring. Perhaps it wasn't (or isn't) meant to be -- Belfort has yet to make his middleweight debut and hasn't seen the inside of the Octagon since a first round destruction of former division champion Rich Franklin in a 195-pound catchweight fight back at UFC 103 on Sept. 19, 2009. At this time, the UFC has yet to make an official announcement regarding any changes to the Nov. 13 line-up; however, that hasn't stopped Internet conspiracy theorists from somehow tying this into Chael Sonnen's recent drug bust at the hands of the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC). With a year long suspension likely awaiting the mouthy ex-politician, Anderson Silva will be left without an opponent for early 2011. UFC 122: "Belfort vs. Okami" was supposed to provide the next top contender, but now the promotion may once again shuffle the deck depending on the timeline for Belfort's return. Bottom line? Either Nate Marquardt or Yushin Okami are likely to leave Oberhausen with first dibs on the middleweight strap. But who will be wearing it by the time they get there? That remains to be seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 Belfort needs to manage his injuries a little better. This is Sean Shark esque. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 See what happens when you call out Anderson??? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 The injury is totally fake. Dana wants Belfort to face Anderson Silva now that Sonnen is suspended. "Undisclosed injury", lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 I would prefer this fight if it meant the winner was the No.1 Contender. I'm still naively innocent enough to think that title shots should be based on being one of the proven top fighters in the division not just on name value. Of course that's not the case, but I'd like it to be so. Vitor Belfort has an impressive sounding record in the UFC... 8-4. It's less impressive when you realise that since the year 2000 he's actually only 3-3. It's even less impressive if you cut out the journeymen and scrubs when it ends up being 3-4... and without the flukish win over Randy it would be 2-4. Until recently that's been the story of Vitor's career... looking great against limited fighters... getting beaten by the better ones. He's on his best run since his Pride days and wins over Lindland (even if rusty and old) and Franklin are very solid... but neither was in the UFC at 185lbs. For him to walk into a title shot or a No.1 Contender bout with a grand record at 185lbs in the UFC of 0-0 is a bit of a farce. In contrast Okami is 9-2 in the UFC. Similar to Belfort he has never really managed to win the big one (despite his DQ win over Silva), losing key bouts to Sonnen (where wrestling shut him down) and Franklin (where he only woke up for the last round) but he at least has quality to make up for his lack of quantity. His bad history of always losing when right on the edge of title contention may rear its ugly head again here... his loss to Franklin derailed a title shot and his loss to Sonnen did the same. There's a remarkable similarity in Nate's UFC run. Likewise 9-2 in the UFC he managed to turn his original run into a title shot (where he did well until falling to Silva's underrated GnP) and then suffered much the same fate as Okami, beating the middle rung of fighters but losing when on the cusp of a title shot. His antics against Maia cost him a shot and he lost the goodwill of a huge KO of Maia by getting dominated by Sonnen (and whining about it). His resume may actually be stronger than Okami's with wins over Maia, Palhares, Kampmann and Gouveia. So I should love this fight? I sort of do. But I fear Guccimane might be right. Unless Silva's rib injury keeps him out till after this fight is done then he's missing a challenger... Okami and Nate are the two most deserving and no-one else is really on any sort of streak... Leben maybe but I doubt that fight gets made... Bisping if he beats Akiyama (and then only if the bout was to be held in the UK... and it would still be undeserved). No, I can see Vitor getting a title shot off no wins at 185lbs in the gap created between this fight and the winner getting their title shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 I would prefer this fight if it meant the winner was the No.1 Contender. I'm still naively innocent enough to think that title shots should be based on being one of the proven top fighters in the division not just on name value. Of course that's not the case, but I'd like it to be so. Vitor Belfort has an impressive sounding record in the UFC... 8-4. It's less impressive when you realise that since the year 2000 he's actually only 3-3. It's even less impressive if you cut out the journeymen and scrubs when it ends up being 3-4... and without the flukish win over Randy it would be 2-4. Until recently that's been the story of Vitor's career... looking great against limited fighters... getting beaten by the better ones. He's on his best run since his Pride days and wins over Lindland (even if rusty and old) and Franklin are very solid... but neither was in the UFC at 185lbs. For him to walk into a title shot or a No.1 Contender bout with a grand record at 185lbs in the UFC of 0-0 is a bit of a farce. In contrast Okami is 9-2 in the UFC. Similar to Belfort he has never really managed to win the big one (despite his DQ win over Silva), losing key bouts to Sonnen (where wrestling shut him down) and Franklin (where he only woke up for the last round) but he at least has quality to make up for his lack of quantity. His bad history of always losing when right on the edge of title contention may rear its ugly head again here... his loss to Franklin derailed a title shot and his loss to Sonnen did the same. There's a remarkable similarity in Nate's UFC run. Likewise 9-2 in the UFC he managed to turn his original run into a title shot (where he did well until falling to Silva's underrated GnP) and then suffered much the same fate as Okami, beating the middle rung of fighters but losing when on the cusp of a title shot. His antics against Maia cost him a shot and he lost the goodwill of a huge KO of Maia by getting dominated by Sonnen (and whining about it). His resume may actually be stronger than Okami's with wins over Maia, Palhares, Kampmann and Gouveia. So I should love this fight? I sort of do. But I fear Guccimane might be right. Unless Silva's rib injury keeps him out till after this fight is done then he's missing a challenger... Okami and Nate are the two most deserving and no-one else is really on any sort of streak... Leben maybe but I doubt that fight gets made... Bisping if he beats Akiyama (and then only if the bout was to be held in the UK... and it would still be undeserved). No, I can see Vitor getting a title shot off no wins at 185lbs in the gap created between this fight and the winner getting their title shot. the Silva vs. Sonnen fight wasn't supposed to be til next year....UFC 122 is early November so if Silva is coming off of a bad rib injury then why not just push it back til late Feb. and not pull Belfort out when he hasn't earned his shot? 4 months isn't enough time?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djohn Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 The injury is totally fake. Dana wants Belfort to face Anderson Silva now that Sonnen is suspended. "Undisclosed injury", lol. I hope this is the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefframrod Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 The injury is totally fake. Dana wants Belfort to face Anderson Silva now that Sonnen is suspended. "Undisclosed injury", lol. Yeah this was my immediate thought when I saw this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 Dana confirmed it. Belfort is fighting Silva for the title. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djohn Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 Woo! Finally! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 Gotta love the Dana White tweets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 *walks in thread..cries*..*leaves to other mma site and sees http://middleeasy.com/images/stories/organizations/ufc120/screenhunter_04%20sep.%2022%2010.28.jpg ..HEART FLUTTERS* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 As I said above... won't be a bad fight but one that Vitor doesn't deserve. That said, not deserving a title fight doesn't mean you won't win it. Brock Lesnar (1-1 in the UFC, 2-1 overall) didn't deserve his shot at Randy... and look what happened there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 ^^same could be said for shogun..i think he only had to beat coleman and liddell (the aging one) to get the shot the first time..but while the talent vitor has faced since going down to 185 hasn't been top notch, he's absolutely dominated in all 3 matches..nobody else is making quick work of opponents in the division like he is so while it may be premature, i think the shot is well deserved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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