UPDATED - Vitor Belfort Out, Nate Marquardt Steps in to Fight Yushin Okami at UFC 122
by Geno Mrosko on Sep 22, 2010 1:36 PM EDT
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This just came down the line, according to MMA Weekly:
An injury has forced Vitor Belfort out of his UFC 122 main event fight against Yushin Okami in Germany. In to replace Belfort will be Nate Marquardt, who just picked up a TKO win over Rousimar Palhares at UFC Fight Night 22.
Marquardt's placement in the fight was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the bout, who stated the fight has been signed for the new main event at UFC 122.
I'm a skeptic by nature. I never believe what's presented to me. Perhaps it's due to my association and longtime love of the pro wrestling business. Maybe it's due to my near complete lack of faith in human beings to be honest. Either way, the timing of this undisclosed injury is entirely too convenient. Sonnen gets popped for steroids and will likely face a year long suspension. Anderson Silva is without an opponent. He is rumored to be coming back for the big Super Bowl weekend card. They've been trying to set up a fight between Belfort and Silva since he came into the UFC. The fight with Okami was billed as a number one contenders bout, so why would they want Vitor out and Nate in?
There are two reasons for this and it's all speculation at this point due to his injury not being made available. One, Okami represented a very bad matchup for Belfort and the very real possibility that he would win and down goes the fight they wanted to make. Two, Marquardt makes sense to fill in and he represents the perfect foil to Okami. He's got a well balanced attack and that's likely to win him the fight and down goes the guy that drew flies in his one main event appearance.
Call me a conspiracy theorist but this doesn't smell right. Of course, if Belfort has a broken leg or something along those lines, I'll look like an idiot.
UPDATE - Dana White confirms on his Twitter that Vitor Belfort is in fact, NOT injured, and will be fighting Anderson Silva for the title:
"Vitor is not injured. He is going to fight anderson for the title and the winner of marquart and okami are next."
Glad they came out and did it this way. I'm happy at this outcome as well. I never thought Sonnen should have been given an immediate rematch as it is. Although it is interesting to note that Sonnen won't be getting the title shot because he was busted for steroids and the man taking his place has been busted for steroids in the past.
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You’re a conspiracy theorist. : ) The UFC doesn’t need to pull this kind of lame bait and switch. If they wanted to make Belfort/Silva now without him fighting Okami, they could just say they guaranteed him a title shot and a spot opened. The dog and pony show isn’t necessary. I’m pretty sure he’s really hurt.
http://www.instrength.com
by Tim Burke on Sep 21, 2010 11:37 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I don't know, BM.
You don’t think a lot of fans would get upset about that? You don’t think they would complain about Okami deserving the shot just as much if not more?
Forget it Donny, you're out of your element.
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by Geno Mrosko on Sep 22, 2010 12:15 AM EDT up reply actions
They all know that Belfort has already been alloted a title shot. Yushin never has. Assuming Okami/Nate is still for a title shot, nothing changes for him.
http://www.instrength.com
Damn it, BM, if you don’t mind me calling you that, you’re killing my narrative here. They’re always trying to work us! Always, damn it!!!
Really, though, I don’t think it’s above them to do something like this. They pushed back Lesnar-Mir 2 from UFC 98 to UFC 100 because of a Mir “knee injury” but do you remember hearing anything about it after the fight got moved? Of course not.
Forget it Donny, you're out of your element.
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Follow me on Twitter at GenoMrosko
by Geno Mrosko on Sep 22, 2010 12:25 AM EDT up reply actions
Isn’t it more likely that the media coverage Sonnen is getting for testing positive will force a deeper look at the UFC roster, and since Belfort was meant to fight Anderson Silva in Abu Dhabi a quick bit of research would uncover he’s also a steroid test failure after his fight with Dan Henderson.
But then there’s Marquardt who also tested positive but was cleared when it was a false positive.
Te MW division has just gone from being wide open to being more screwed then when Anderson was dancing around worthless challengers in Cote and Leites. All we need is Anderson to become injured or retire, and the Middle Weight division becomes the most worthless in the sport by a mile.
If I was going for a conspiracy theory angle, then it would be more about Belfort being worried about being popped for steroids again after Sonnen got caught out. Particularly if he’s got a pre existing injury that he was using steroids to rehab from.
Well, what do you know.
Forget it Donny, you're out of your element.
CagesideSeats.com
Follow me on Twitter at GenoMrosko
by Geno Mrosko on Sep 22, 2010 12:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Good call, you nailed it
Vitor is fighting Anderson for the title next with the Marquardt-Okami winner after that.
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