Wanderlei Silva
Dana White says Wanderlei Silva will remain on card, gets new opponent
LAS VEGAS – In yet another major blow to a major UFC bout, Vitor Belfort has suffered a broken hand in training and has been forced out of his UFC 147 main event against Wanderlei Silva.
UFC president Dana White announced the news to a small group of reporters following the post-fight news conference for UFC 146 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Belfort was scheduled to meet Silva next month at UFC 147 at the Mineirinho arena in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The two Brazilian rivals coached opposite each other on the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil,” which currently is airing in Brazil. They were to meet following their coaching stint in a rematch – their first fight took place in October 1998, a win by Belfort.
When asked by HeavyMMA for his reaction to Jon Jones’ recent arrest on suspicion of DUI, White responded with one of his most popular refrains: “Bad (stuff) happens to me every day.” He then dropped the bombshell that he had been told Saturday morning that Belfort broke his hand training, had surgery and will not be in the fight.
White said Silva will remain on the card in the headlining position – but was not prepared to announce a replacement for Belfort.
The Belfort news comes on the heels of Dominick Cruz tearing his ACL, forcing him out of his UFC 148 co-main event bantamweight title fight against Urijah Faber. And on Saturday, heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos fought Frank Mir instead of Alistair Overeem when Overeem failed to get licensed after testing positive for elevated testosterone-to-epitestosterone levels.