Wanderlei Silva In For Injured Vitor Belfort At UFC 139

Wanderlei Siva

Former Pride star welcomes Cung Le to the Octagon in San Jose

UFC 139 has suffered its first injury.

UFC President Dana White tweeted the news earlier this morning that Vitor Belfort is injured and will no longer be the man to welcome former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le to the UFC on November 19. That honor now falls to “The Axe Murderer,” Wanderlei Silva. Details of Belfort’s injury have not been disclosed at this time.

Coming off a brutal knockout loss to Chris Leben at UFC 132, Silva is in need of strong showing.

One of the most popular fighters in the history of the sport, Silva is just 2-4 since coming to the UFC from Pride, and 4-6 in his last ten fights. More concerning is the way he’s been beaten; Silva has been knocked out in violent fashion in four of his last six losses, and needs to right the ship quickly if he wants to continue competing at the highest level.

This is a much better match-up for Le.

The 39-year-old kickboxing superstar hasn’t competed in MMA since defeating Scott Smith in June 2010, and has fought just twice since defeating Frank Shamrock to claim the Strikeforce middleweight title in March 2008. Instead, Le has focused on building a film career, which has yielded significant roles in Fighting, Pandorum, and Tekken.

Silva and Le are expected to serve as the co-main event for the UFC’s debut show in San Jose. The recently announced bout between former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and the returning Dan Henderson will headline.

Be sure to keep checking Heavy MMA for all you UFC 139 updates.