Dana White Says Belfort Not Injured, Fighting Anderson Silva For Title. Marquardt Vs. Okami Winner To Get Next Title Shot

Dana White refuted rumors of Vitor Belfort being injured as to the reason for his withdrawal from his UFC 122 bout with Yushin Okami by addressing the issue via Twitter.

via Dana White’s Twitter-

Fans looking forward to seeing the return of Brazilian superstar, Vitor Belfort, will have to wait a while longer as reports are coming in that he has pulled out of his match at UFC 122 with Yushin Okami due to injury. Belfort made his return to the promotion at UFC 103, scoring a KO victory over Rich Franklin fighting at a catch weight of 195 pounds. A title fight with Anderson Silva was in the works, but was postponed twice due to Silva not being fully recovered from injury. The pair set a date for the third time at UFC 112 in February, but Belfort was forced to pull out of the scrap due to injuries of his own. Belfort has yet to fight at middleweight for the UFC. The specifics and severity of the injury have not yet been made public.

Taking his place to face Okami will be Nate Marquardt. Coming off an impressive TKO victory over Rousimar Palhares a week ago at Ultimate Fight Night 22 in Austin, Marquardt moved right back up into the top guys in line for title shots with Silva. Seeing as this fight was previously made to determine the middleweight division’s No. 1 contender, Marquardt replacing Belfort should not impact that decision.

It appears as if the UFC is swiftly moving away from a rematch between UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen in light of Sonnen recently failing his drug screening following UFC 117. The UFC released this statement informing fans of its new plans to determine an opponent for Silva.

via UFC Managing Director of International Development Marshall Zelaznik-