Maybe Vitor Belfort Won't Leapfrog Nate Marquardt For Title Shot After All
(Who doesn't love a sweaty staring contest?)
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.
Meanwhile, let's take a step back and look at the current state of the UFC championship belts:
155 lbs: B.J. Penn puts the lightweight title up for grabs next weekend against Diego Sanchez. If Penn retains the title, don't look for him to turn around and defend it again any time in the next six months.
170 lbs: Georges St. Pierre goes up against Dan Hardy in March in what seems very likely to be a championship squash match.
185 lbs: Anderson Silva is still hurting and his return is uncertain. The good news is that, by the time he can come back, a #1 contender will be clearly established.
205 lbs: Lyoto Machida and "Shogun" Rua will go at it one more time in May. Unless something bad happens to one of them, which seems all too likely given the UFC's current streak of bad luck.
265 lbs: Brock Lesnar is a very, very sick man. Don't believe this 'back in six months' stuff just yet. The big man is going to need some time, and we shouldn't expect to see him before summer.
Basically, what we're probably looking at in 2010 is two title fights in the first five months. That's not great news when it comes to scraping together pay-per-view headliners. Better start working on those grudges, boys.
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TrouserSnout Says:
Seems like the right thing to do...can't wait for this fight and to see the winner take on Anderson....
Eddi Says:
Victor Belfort is part of the wolfpack
jimbonics Says:
Seems like the right thing to do...can't wait for this fight and then see Vitor take on Anderson....
fixed...
Merlin Says:
Man for once the UFC is making sense!
Taking nothing away from "The Phenom" and the way he has reinvented himself, but no one is more deserving of a shot at the title than "The Great".
Also this one won't go to a decision, SWEET!
And for Pete's sake guys, take your showers & wear your flip-flops.
Starry Says:
I feel Sorry for Dan Henderson - we all know he would beat these two.
TrouserSnout Says:
I would like to see Vitor win....and don't ever claim that you fixed my comment you fuckin noob....
mustache ride Says:
This is an awesome fight. Finally there making some sense. Does anyone think that the MW division however slim it may be is divided into two sections? Nate never fighting against Bisping, Leben (undeserving but big enough name), Henderson, Grove, Cote, Franklin, all these guys were available to fight him at any given time in the past. At least Franklin could have fought some of these dudes before they pushed him into whatever fucking division he is fighting in.
831 Son Says:
I predict the winner getting smashed by Anderson.
Sabado Gigante Says:
This is where the addition of lighter weights in the UFC would've beautifly come into play...
Sabado Gigante Says:
Oops, allow me to clarify...
Lighter weight classes
KrmtDfrog Says:
"If Penn retains the title, don't look for him to turn around and defend it again any time in the next six months."
"Basically, what we're probably looking at in 2010 is two title fights in the first five months."
um.... given their paucity of title matches, I would not be surprised at all to see BJ defend the title sometime in early spring. Look at that second line you wrote.
mthomas Says:
I thought Marquardt was taking on Chael Sonnen in Australia. Has that fight now been scrapped?
Turd Furgeson Says:
You're all wrong! This doesn't make any sense! Its like I've been saying for months, Palhares is our only hope of taking The Spider down.
Its all politics.
steampunk22 Says:
It doesn't appear so yet, although the Marquard/Sonnen fight has been moved from the 110 card Down Under to the Las Vegas card of UFC 109 three weeks earlier.
I still think that Marquardt and Sonnen is a retarded fight, and a step backwards for Nate. Vitor knows he should fight someone else at 185 before a title shot as well, so, its a perfect match, everyone knows it, but it seems that nothing is official yet.
All three fighters (Sonnen, Marquardt, and Belfort) have no confirmed information that any of the already scheduled fights have changed. With the exception of Vitor is currently without an opponent. Yet. The only change I can find is the switching of dates for Marquardt/Sonnen. But give it a few days and we'll see.
NealTaflinger Says:
All of this creates a good argument for rolling the WEC into the UFC and adding cruiserweight and flyweight titles to the mix. And the fight that should have happened was Marquardt vs. Henderson.
Zee German Says:
Now that's a fight I am dying to see.
With Georges sidelined and then making an example out of Hardy, Henderson out of the picture, Anderson injured, this is great news.
Big Vitor fan here, and I like Marquard as well. This is just as good as any title fight coming up.
KJGould Says:
Better start working on the Feathweight and Bantamweight divisions in UFC so we have two more titles to play around with and justify PPV, more like.
Sneaky Pete Says:
This is going to end up being a better match up than either of them against Silva. Silva's great for dismantling people, but there's not very many fighters that can match his skill.
MMArk Says:
So did Brock get injured or some kinda accident or was it some shit he always had that just manifested itself now???
Get Off Me Says:
@ Starry
No we don't....... I want Hendo back immeadiately!
tallkitchenbags Says:
what's the deal with lesnar? his liver give out or something?
robthom Says:
Vitor/Marquard is a much better fight than Vitor/Silva.
Vitor has NO chance against Silva!
Silva's much to smart and patient to fall for Vitors one trick!
But its true that Vitor/Silva has to be the bigger money maker.
ianisthewalrus Says:
im thinkin the UFC should just switch over to grand prix like pride. it doesnt matter if you won last time, if your hurt, you cant fight. let the people who can do there thing.
robthom Says:
I agree that multi event mini GP's (since they cant fight twice in a night) would bring some unique excitement to the cards. Possibly even excluding the top 3 contenders just to organize and prune the prospects from the stragglers.
They shouldn't organize whole cards around them, but just add them in with the normal card formula. It would make watching and getting to know some of the lesser known "no name" guys a lot more interesting. And it would make the winner into an instant name and draw.
Turd Furgeson Says:
@Ian and rob
Excellent ideas guys. After Palhares demolished every middle weight in a gp everybody would realize and respect him for the top P4P fighter that he is.
I'm ready for all you d bags to jump off this Silva band wagon.
The ufcs middle weight division is weak. I won't be impressed until I see him beat the likes of a mayhem miller or cung Le. Now there's a fight I'd pay to see.
UFC fan Says:
hello Palhares-nut-hugger, welcome to the potato.
0311 Says:
The right thing to do would be give Dan Henderson another shoot. He is the only fighter to win a round against Anderson. Unless you count Travis Lutter. Who fought the Spider coming off knee surgery. I think Dana is protecting Anderson from Hendo. Worried one of his cash cows will be dethroned. Hendo admitted his weight cut for the first fight was screwed up. That he would not make the same mistake again. Hendo deserves the rematch.
Turd Furgeson Says:
@UFC fan
You better shut up before I hug YOUR nuts.
Turd Furgeson Says:
I mean punch your nuts.
Hugging them would be gay.
KJGould Says:
@tallkitchenbags his intestine. Basically he's been told Sable has to put away the strap-on for a year.