(If Vitor walks out at 126 to Iron Mike’s version of "In the Air Tonight," bricks will be shat. Pic props: Sherdog)

It looks like Vitor Belfort has one-upped Anderson Silva’s secret training weapon.

If you recall, prior to his UFC 117 bout with Chael Sonnen, the longtime UFC middleweight champion spent some time with 7th-dan Aikido black belt Steven Seagal to learn slap blocks, wrist locks and throat strikes — none of which helped him from being dumped on his ass and pounded on for the majority of five rounds by the testosterone deficient Republican.

After trying in vain to secure Ralph Macchio to help him prepare for his upcoming UFC 126 bout with Silva, Belfort had to settle for the next best thing: Mike Tyson.

(Video courtesy YouTube/TheFightNetwork)

Despite the growing hype surrounding a fight between him and outspoken former number one UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen, Wanderlei Silva says he’s still hoping he will be matched up with fellow slugger Chris Leben for his return bout following knee surgery. Silva mentioned a couple months back that he would be fighting Leben in Toronto, which seems like it must have been in the works, at least at the time considering "The Axe Murderer" was privy to the info that the UFC was likely holding a show in the Canadian city in the spring before it was announced.

"I want to make my next fight for here in Toronto, maybe in April. I started my rehab for my knee right now and I started to lift weights, but I don’t train martial arts right now. I’m gonna wait two weeks to see what’s gonna happen with my knee," Wand explains. "If it feels better I’m gonna fight on the first show in Toronto. [Chris Leben] is a really good opponent. His style’s like my style. He likes to fight. He’s no afraid to fight toe-to-toe, so he’s a good opponent. He’s going to fight right now in one of the next UFCs, but I want to fight against him."

As far as a possible fight with Sonnen goes, Silva thinks that unlike Anderson Silva, he’ll have the upper hand if the bout comes to fruition, citing a certain sparring session he had in Vegas with the testosterone deficient, smack talk abundant middleweight to support his opinion.

"Sonnen, he’s more of a wrestler. I think that’s a good fight for me, too," Silva says. "I trained with him one time at [Xtreme Couture] and I killed him there, you know? I think he’s a good opponent too. He’s tough.

Anderson Silva at X-Gym – Watch more Funny Videos

I know. At first, you’re like "Whoa, CagePotato scored an interview with Anderson Silva in English? This is historic!" And then you’re like, "oh." CP’s Brazilian correspondent Brian D’Souza does his best, but it’s hard not to be disappointed when Anderson is fed a question about a potential superfight with Georges St. Pierre, and responds by saying that while GSP is the best welterweight in the world, BJ Penn is the best fighter in the world. (Does that mean he’d rather fight Penn? Aloha, brother.) Also: His training for Vitor Belfort is going well, moving back to light-heavyweight is not his decision, and Team Nogueira is more like Family Nogueira. Now let’s never speak of this again…

(Nipmoua’s old poster design has become eerily prescient. Except for the ’200′ thing, obviously. I mean, do the math bro.)

In what’s expected to be an official announcement of the UFC’s return to Brazil in 2011, UFC president Dana White and Chairman/CEO Lorenzo Fertitta will be making a special announcement at Rio De Janeiro’s City Hall today at 11 a.m. ET, 2 p.m. local time. White and Fertitta will be joined by UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie, middleweight champion Anderson Silva, light-heavyweight champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, featherweight champion Jose Aldo, #1 middleweight contender Vitor Belfort, and Eduardo Paes, the mayor of Rio. You can watch the announcement live in the video player after the jump. 

(Cote will be looking to punch his ticket back to the UFC in Quebec in 2011, where he will fight for Ringside MMA.)

Former number one UFC middleweight contender Patrick "The Predator" Cote will not have to travel far for his next fight.

CagePotato.com has learned from a source close to the situation that the popular French-Canadian fighter has signed with the Quebec-based Ringside MMA organization and will make his promotional debut against a yet-to-be-decided opponent March 25 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Cote was unceremoniously dropped by the UFC after logging three losses in a row — two of which came after a year-and-a-half layoff following a pair of knee surgeries he required after injury forced him to prematurely bow out of his UFC 90 championship bout with Anderson Silva at the 39-second mark of the third round. Looking to rebuild his record at home so he can make it back to the Octagon one day, "The Predator" apparently decided that Ringside would provide him with the best stage to do just that considering they have a pay-per-view agreement in place with Canal Indigo in Quebec and are also negotiating a Canadian TV deal.

Born out of the ashes of the widely popular but now-defunct TKO Major League MMA organization, Ringside has made moves in Quebec to take over where its former partner left off, and by moving its events into the Bell Centre in 2011 and by signing leading Canadian talent like Cote the promotion is on the right track.

*UPDATE* Cote denied the signing tonight via Twitter, but our source (who isn’t Cote) insists that the deal is done and that "The Predator" will indeed debut at the March 25 show. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how this plays out.

Chael Sonnen only did one interview following his hearing with the California State Athletic Commission, (which is said to have been set up for weeks) with HDNet’s Mike Straka which appeared on Friday’s episode of Inside MMA.

During the segment, Sonnen said that he basically paid the issue no mind as he was dealing with the much bigger issue of getting his name cleared in the real estate issue that forced him out of the Oregon State political race this year.

"A commission is a pretty small entity, but a commission has a lot of power over a guy like me. I hadn’t really dealt with this matter until today. I had a team of lawyers [do it for me]. I’ve been dealing with the federal government all the way dating back five years ago, which interfered with a campaign I had for public office," Sonnen explains. "That’s where my attention has been. I’m getting really close to reaching a deal with the federal government on that issue. That’s where my focus has been. The lawyers handled things and business went well today."

When asked by Straka how he intends to deal with those who don’t buy his story, Sonnen stated simply, that he doesn’t have any plans to entertain the notion that he cheated, regardless of who is asking about it.

"I don’t plan to deal with it at all. I don’t know really anybody that thinks I was on steroids and if they do I wouldn’t offer an explanation or an apology," he says. "The facts were the facts and that’s it. That was between me and the commission and we dealt with it."

(Video courtesy YouTube/MattNYY2)

If TUF 6 graduate Matt Arroyo’s fighting career doesn’t pan out, he may have a future as an impersonator.

The 28-year-old who was dropped by Zuffa after back-to-back losses has been inactive as a fighter since his last Octagon appearance against Dan Cramer at UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2 in January of 2009. He has competed in BJJ competitions since then, but it seems like he’s been spending the majority of his time away from the cage working on ‘is riddum.

More MMA notables’ doing some other impressive impersonations after the jump.

Sometimes a fighter connects with his opponent so perfectly that he can confidently peace out to collect his check before the ref even stops the fight. It’s called a walk-off knockout, and it’s what all other knockouts aspire to be. Here, presented with limited commentary, are our favorites.

#8: Brad Kohler vs. Steve Judson @ UFC 22 (9/24/99)

("Just relax and don’t think about where my other hand is.")

Unless you’re doing an interview with a small regional Canadian television station, if your teammate is fighting you’re pretty much obligated to say he or she is going to win or you may find yourself being greenlit the next time you show up for practice.

It’s no surprise then that Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante is picking his Team Nogueira training partner, UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva to beat former UFC light heavyweight champ Vitor Belfort when the pair meet February 5 at UFC 126 in Las Vegas.

According to Feijao, who is ignoring the principle rule of training: what happens in the gym stays in the gym, says that he has never seen Belfort get an upper hand over Silva in rolling or sparring while the two trained together briefly at Black House.

“I’ve had the opportunity of training with both [Anderson and Vitor] and to see them training with each other," he told Tatame. I’ve never seen Vitor beating Anderson."

(Belfort has no problem with Brazilian on Brazilian crime.)

During an interview with Tatame earlier this month, number one UFC middleweight contender Vitor Belfort was asked to respond to recent remarks made by Wanderlei Silva that Anderson Silva is going to, "beat the hell out of ‘The Phenom’" and let’s just say he wasn’t overly impressed.

"I don’t think anything, he’s a spectator and he can think whatever he wants to. If you have a mouth, you can say whatever you want and Wanderlei has a big mouth. But it’s about cheering, everyone can cheer for their favorite, and the important is to be respectful and know how to choose the right words," Belfort said. "In February I’ll have my chance for the belt and let’s see how it’ll be."

(The beginning of the end for the Predator…)

From #1 contender to castoff in three fights — such is the fate of Patrick Cote, who confirmed today that he has been cut by the UFC following his decision loss to Tom Lawlor at UFC 121. As Cote wrote, "I had a little hope but finally got the release word from the UFC. Its been a awesome experience! Ill be back!!"

The TUF 4 middleweight finalist lost his first four official matches in the Octagon (including his TUF 4 finale fight against Travis Lutter), but then went on a monster run in 2007-2008 that saw him score five consecutive victories over Scott Smith, Jason Day, Kendall Grove, Drew McFedries, and Ricardo Almeida.

("We have ways to make the infidels…er…fighters agree to our demands.")

It looks like a GSP vs. Anderson Silva match-up might be closer than anticipated.

Dana White brushed off the potential blockbuster bout this summer as being something that likely won’t happen for a while, but according to his partner, UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, the fight may happen as early as next summer if both fighters continue to dominate in their respective divisions.

"I want to see that fight," Fertitta said during a Q&A session in London ahead of UFC 120. "That’s probably the one fight I really want to see the most."

For that to happen, Silva will have to get by former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort in February and St-Pierre faces fellow TUF 12 coach and MMA superheel Josh Koscheck in December. White has also held steadfast to his assertion that Jake Shields will face the winner of that bout, so it may still be a while off if he gets his way.

In a recent interview with Fighters Only, UFC president Dana White revealed that the next time Michael Bisping steps through the doors of the Octagon to compete, he will be staring across the cage at a top five opponent.

Considering the options, it’s a pretty safe bet that said opponent will be the loser of the UFC 122 bout between Yushin Okami and Nate Marquardt.

Let’s look at the simple deductive reasoning we used that helped us come to our conclusion:

(Ramon says his head isn’t big; every hat he owns is simply too small.)

Brazilians always seem to take the glass is half full approach to life, so it shouldn’t surprise us that Anderson Silva’s Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach, Ramon Lemos sees a bright side to Chael Sonnen’s positive post-UFC 117 steroid test result.

Lemos told Tatame recently that Sonnen’s infraction only proves how good his fighter really is.

"I was very happy because he was on top of us for 23 minutes, on his best position, and Anderson submitted him, won the fight and kept the belt… Then you see that the guy had used things, so he had better conditioning than a regular athlete… It’s wonderful for us," Lemos said. "That proves that Anderson Silva is the best of t he world, without any doubts."

Considering that Sonnen, whether or not he had any help from PEDs, is the only fighter to ever dominate Silva the way that the Oregon Republican did in August, it’s no surprise that Ramos is in agreement that the one year suspension Chael was handed down by the California State Athletic Commission last month was just. He also is of the opinion that when Sonnen does come back from his suspension that he should be forced to work his way back up from the bottom of the UFC’s middleweight division.

Since Silva only has a handful of fights remaining on his current UFC contract and has expressed a desire to retire in the next year or two, unless Sonnen wins his appeal, it’s unlikely the pair will ever get a second match.

"I’m in favor of rematches for the fans, the show, the event, the whole media… But, as a professional and athlete, and now as Anderson Silva’s coach on Atos, I consider a rematch a bad thing and it doesn’t worth. Because, if the guy had loss on the judges’ call, it’d be ok. But he stayed for 23 minutes, and that means five rounds, on his best position, which is to takedown and punch from the top, and he couldn’t define the fight, and he lost," Lemos said. "There’s no need to know if he had taken extra medicines or not. You can’t have a rematch on those conditions. He has to be punished and stay a year off and then come back for the end of the line and wait for his call to fight Anderson Silva again."

UFC Ultimate Insider Best of Joe Rogan – Watch more Funny Videos (Vid courtesy UFC.com)

Two of the most overlooked redeeming qualities of great interviewers are that they they are comfortable and that they make their subjects comfortable enough that they will open up to them.

Joe Rogan does both.

Thanks to his years of television and stand-up comedy experience, Rogan has been able to transition into the role of interviewer with relative ease, without coming off on the mic or behind the camera as a gushing 12-year-old fan like many MMA reporters do today.

(“Is good, no? Is from child’s meal at fast food restaurant.” PicProps: FCFighter.com)

By now we’ve all had a good chuckle over last week’s vid of the world’s most awkward van ride where Wanderlei Silva tells Chael Sonnen to keep Brazil’s name out his mouth, if he wants that mouth to keep functioning for the purposes of things like chewing food and telling insane lies. But as Sonnen – who pretty much backed down in the face of Wanderlei’s rough-hewn wisdom — continues to hole up in Oregon and contemplate the possibility that he may have squandered his last chance at being a relevant fighter, a few other Brazilians followed Wanderlei’s lead over the weekend and let fly with their own opinions about the alleged testosterone addict.

That included Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who told Sherdog.com that he thinks “God is just” in not allowing Sonnen to win the UFC middleweight title while (probably) cheating against Anderson Silva. “The Spider” also spoke with the Dog, telling it that he didn’t think Sonnen deserved a rematch, anyway. For his part, Wanderlei went the extra mile to prove he’s like the nicest dude in the world, telling MMA Canada (during kind of an awkward video blog) that he thinks Sonnen’s year-long suspension is a bit too harsh.

 
(Hopefully Vitor can channel Chael Sonnen for the pre-fight press, or else this fight will have to sell itself.)

Well it looks like the UFC’s too good to be true double-title bout New Year’s card was indeed, too good to be true.

According to Vitor Belfort, his showdown with UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva won’t be on the card, and will instead happen a month later on Saturday, February 5 on the eve of the SuperBowl.

He tweeted the news last night.

(Don’t you know who my cousin is, bro?)

Now, I know fighters sometimes say ludicrous things in the heat of the moment when hyping upcoming fights, like Mir saying he wanted Brock to suffer the first Octagon-related death and Mike Tyson saying he wanted to eat Lennox Lewis’ children, but for some reason none of those remarks seem as asinine to me as something Manny Gamburyan said during an interview with MMAWeekly radio yesterday.

When asked about his upcoming WEC 51 fight Thursday night with featherweight champion Jose Aldo, who has drawn comparisons to Anderson Silva for his dangerous and flashy muay thai skills, Gamburyan had the following to say:

“If they’re comparing him to Anderson Silva, they should compare me with Fedor," Gamburyan said without cracking up. "If he’s Anderson Silva, most definitely, I’m Fedor.”

Sure you’re Fedor, Manny — if Fedor wasn’t as good as he is, if he dropped a decision to Thiago Tavares and if he got KTFO by Rob Emerson.

(Video courtesy MMAWeekly)

When UFC president Dana White confirmed that Vitor Belfort would be stepping in to face Anderson Silva next while Chael Sonnen tries to talk himself out of a one-year suspension for testing positive for steroids, one piece of info that he left out was when we can expect the fight to go down.

Silva’s manager, Ed Soares revealed in an interview with MMAWeekly yesterday that Anderson is still experiencing pain in the rib he injured in his four-and-a-half round war with Chael Sonnen at UFC 117 and he may not be ready in time for UFC 125 on January 1 so the fight may have to wait until February 5.

"His rib is stil very tender. They’re very sore. That’s what I’m talking to him about. It’s still a bit sore, but it’s healing up. It’s still not 100 percent. He needs to be training at least 10 weeks with his ribs not being hurt. It’s still tender and it really hurts [him] to throw knees and stuff like that," Soares explained. "I think at this point, we don’t know what date it’s going to be. It’s definitely going to be some time next year. We just don’t know if it’s going to be January first or SuperBowl weekend."

UFC president Dana White today proved our sneaking suspicion that Vitor Belfort being dropped from his UFC 122 bout with Yushin Okami had little to do with him being injured, as was originally incorrectly reported by MMAWeekly, and a lot to do with Chael Sonnen being unable to face Anderson Silva at the UFC’s planned NYE show.

Although White didn’t tweet a date for the eventual showdown, the CP magic 8-ball points to the January 1 UFC 125 card that Sonnen was scheduled to face Silva on.

(Chael’s growing bacne problem: the smoking gun? Or were the mats just not washed after Lindland used them? Image courtesy of CageWriter.)

A few notable points that have emerged since yesterday’s bombshell that Chael Sonnen tested positive for performance enhancing drugs following UFC 117…

– According to the L.A. Times’ Lance Pugmire, Sonnen tested positive for a "natural steroid" before his fight with Anderson Silva. Natural steroids, such as androstenedione and dehydroepiandrosterone, aren’t chemically altered like synthetic steroids, and can be sold over-the-counter as supplements at health food stores.

– Sonnen is facing a year-long suspension and a $2,500 fine, which he has 30 days to appeal. According to California State Athletic Commission Executive Officer George Dodd, Sonnen’s positive test emerged from a urine sample he gave before the fight that was processed through the UCLA Olympic drug-testing lab.

(We’d like to see you talk your way out of this one … PicProps: Us?)

Oh, this is not good. The biggest comeback story of 2010 may well be fizzling out before our very eyes, as the California State Athletic Commission tells Sherdog that Chael Sonnen tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in the wake of UFC 117.  CSAC Executive Officer George Dodd says Sonnen was notified over the weekend that he’d popped positive for PEDs after his loss to Anderson Silva at that event.

(If you’re into easily digestible religious platitudes and being able to express your entire worldview on a bumper sticker, Belfort is pretty much your guy. PicProps:  Urdirt.com)

Look, nobody would blame Vitor Belfort if he’s a little pissed off right now. Dude has been trying to get Anderson Silva in the cage with him since January, but owing to the middleweight champion’s ongoing frailty, fights scheduled for UFC 108, UFC 109 and UFC 112 have all had to be postponed. Now, due to the world’s most unexpected beatdown at the hands of Chael Sonnen and yet another injury to Silva, Belfort will instead accept a dangerous (and, frankly, thankless) fight against Yushin Okami in Germany at UFC 122 in November.

A lesser man – or perhaps a man who isn’t married to a Brazilian Playboy model and therefore can’t already consider his life an earth-shaking fucking success – might think this was a raw deal. He might stew over it, maybe go on Tapout Radio and say some crazy shit about it, but not Vitor Belfort.  As he explained on Thursday during an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s “The MMA Hour,” Belfort doesn’t get mad, he gets Jesus.

"You know what I’m expecting?” he said, when asked if he thought a win over Okami would earn him a title fight. “I’m expect Jesus, bro, every day. I’m expecting Jesus to come into my life and choose my path. Whatever out there is good for me."

("Wouldn’t it have been easier to just accept my friend request?" PicProps: CP24.com)

UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre tells our guy Fowlkes at MMA Fighting this week that he typically doesn’t like to get to know his opponents on a personal level before he fights them. Since we all know that deep down GSP is kind of a bleeding-heart softy, he worries that if he comes to like and respect his foes it will be more difficult for him to beat the stuffing out of them in the cage.

“It’s hard," St. Pierre says. "Because let’s say in the fight you have a good position on him to hurt him, you know, to put him away and really hurt him. It’s harder to do. That’s why I like to be away from my opponent."

Apparently – and to absolutely no one’s surprise — getting to know Josh Koscheck while filming season 12 of “The Ultimate Fighter” had the exact opposite effect. In fact, St. Pierre says the most difficult thing about his TUF 12 experience was just having to hang out in close proximity to that insufferable dick. And here we thought the worst part of the reality show for GSP would be not being able to go to Club Orchid for a few weeks …

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– The UFC officially announces Penn vs. Hughes III in Detroit (MMA Convert)

– Efrain Escudero comes in four pounds heavy for UFC Fight Night 22; fight with Oliveira will proceed as a catchweight bout (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Must-see: Chael Sonnen debuts his new stand-up comedy material at yesterday’s UFC Q&A session in Austin. (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Helwani vs. Dundas: UFN 22 Edition (Versus MMA Beat)

– Donald Cerrone Steps Over the Line Between Good Hype and a PR Problem (MMA Fighting)

– UFC 119: Mir vs. Cro Cop extended video trailer (MMA Scraps)

– Punk rock vampire pirates are the key to MMA promotion, obviously. (MiddleEasy)

– Anderson Silva says the fight against Chael Sonnen would be a different story, if he was completely healthy (LowKick)

– Behind the Lens With Josh Koscheck (FIGHT! Magazine)

– Epic video of Muhammad Ali doing what he does best…talking that smack (Watch Kalib Run)

You may also be interested in…

– The Jackass 3D crew needs ideas. Submit yours for a chance to film it with them. Plus, video of a rather impressive ferris wheel nut-shot. (WonderHowTo)

– Music video directors who made the jump to the big screen (Bullz-Eye)

(Listen, Chael. If you get into trouble and you forget what to do, I’ve had instructions printed on your shorts and my shirt and hat.)

Number one UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen took part in a Q&A session today in Texas ahead of tomorrow night’s UFC Fight Night 22 and as expected, the outspoken Republican had a lot to say.

Perhaps most interesting of all of the comments made by Sonnen at the UFC Fight Club event were in regards to whom he might be training with for his  rematch with Silva, tentatively scheduled for UFC 125 on January 1, and whom he has in his crosshairs should he win the UFC middleweight strap this time around.

"I’d love it if Yushin [Okami] came out [to help me train for the rematch with Anderson]. I have a room in my house and I call it Yushin’s room and nobody’s allowed to go in it. I finished the place for him, I put a big bed in it and I got him his own television. Nobody gets to go in there but Okami. But, I don’t know [if he'll make it to Oregon for my camp]," Sonnen said. "I just talked to a gentleman from Japan on behalf of Yushin. He talked about coming out, but he said that because he and Vitor [Belfort] are going to fight in Germany, he’s very worried about jet lag from travelling from Tokyo to the States, to Germany. So I don’t know if we’re going to get him or not." 

(Video courtesy MMALive)

Chael Sonnen replaced Franklin McNeil as John Anik’s other wingman alongside Kenny Florian on the latest episode of MMA Live and the trio proved itself a major improvement over the traditional line-up. Not only did he come off as a seasoned vet on camera, Chael also added to his vast depth of knowledge with a plethora of Sonnenisms like the one he used when describing the pending  match-up between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard.

"Well, listen, the fight has to happen. It’s already happened once and Maynard got the edge on him. I think Frankie’s better now. I like it from a competitive standpoint. It needs to take place," Sonnen said. "It’s the right fight. From a business standpoint, acting as though Maynard versus Edgar is going to sell out an arena is about as optimistic as holding onto Jim Morrison’s mail."

During the segment, which originally aired on Thursday, the durable UFC middleweight confirmed that if Anderson Silva’s injured ribs heal in time, they will square off at UFC 125 which is being planned for Saturday, January 1 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

(Video courtesy MMAWeekly)

An interesting tidbit that came out of Dana White’s Q&A session at the UFC Fan Expo in Boston last weekend was the UFC president’s revelation that a superfight between his middleweight champion, Anderson Silva and welterweight champion, Georges St-Pierre may come to fruition in the next year if both men win their next two fights.

When asked by a young fan why he hasn’t made the fight between the two dominant champions yet, White replied:

"Well, Georges St-Pierre is the coach on this season of The Ultimate Fighter and he’s gotta fight Koscheck. Then Jake Shields is here now, so he’s got a couple guys [to get through] before he clears out the division. We’re gonna redo Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva. That rematch is gonna happen and Vitor Belfort is still in the mix. So they got a couple guys they gotta beat before we make that fight, but I’m not opposed to making it."

Sounds like they’ve already counted Okami out of his upcoming bout with Belfort. Poor Yushin; always be the bridesmaid, never the bride.

(The unstoppable force meets the immovable asshole. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com)

According to the LA Times’ Lance Pugmire, a middleweight title rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen is being penciled in for the UFC’s next New Year’s Eve or Super Bowl weekend card, after Silva recovers from the rib injury that reportedly plagued him before the fight. Unlike other immediate UFC title rematches that have been booked recently — see esp., Machida vs. Rua II, Penn vs. Edgar II — Silva and Sonnen’s first meeting didn’t end in a close/controversial judges’ decision. Instead, Silva sunk a triangle-armbar with less than two minutes remaining in the fifth round, after getting out-wrestled and battered for the previous four frames.

Apparently Vitor wasn’t bullshitting when he said he isn’t waiting around for Anderson Silva to heal from his rib injury to fight the UFC middleweight champ next spring. According to the former UFC light heavyweight champion, he will take another fight in the mean time which should appease those who believe that he should at least have one fight at middleweight in the Octagon before getting a title shot.

The question is, who should he fight?

The UFC’s middleweight division has not shortage of contenders, but most of the usual suspects are already committed to fights and would have to abridge their training camps — that is if they escape their upcoming fights without any injuries.

Let’s look at the candidates for facing Belfort.