Belfort Injured, Off UFC 139 Card, Cung Le Now Faces Wanderlei Silva
Vitor Belfort has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled appearance in San Jose against former Strikeforce champion Cung Le, due to an injury.
No specific details were given on the extent of the injury or the recovery time.
UFC 139 is set to take place on November 19th at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. With the original heavyweight title fight headliner between champ Cain Velasquez and Junior Santos moving from UFC 139 to UFC on FOX 1 the organization is likely looking for a replacement main event. The Henderson vs. Rua fight announced yesterday is a likely replacement for the slot.
With Vitor on the mend, Cung Le will now face MMA superstar Wanderlei Silva in his promotional debut.
Le, 39, went 17-0 as a Sanshou kickboxer before moving to MMA in 2006. However, he hasn’t fought in 16 months while pursuing an acting career. In Strikeforce he posted a 7-1 record (with seven knockout victories) with his only loss during that run coming at the hands of Scott Smith, who pulled off a stunning come-from-behind KO win in their December 2009 fight. Le then avenged the defeat in his next bout with a KO set up by a spinning back kick.
Silva is a pioneer and MMA legend who many believe should retire. He has dropped six of his last eight fights and was last seen hitting the canvas after an onslaught of upper cuts delivered by Chris Leben at UFC 132.
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I saw he had ice taped on his upper arm and elbow area.. Shittz! Cung might have a better chance of winning w Wand.
Wand
Luv wand but Dam I wanted Vitor to let his hands go again
this is a better fight for cung. vitor wouldve ran thro cung, although wands gunna try
Is this a true report or has the site been hacked? I’m wondering because rarely a publication gets made with no underlying story. What’s the scoop P-Money? PENN NATION!!!!!!!
OOPS, story was just added.
Dang, that was gonna be a great striking match. Cung is going to retire Wanderlei with a round house kick. I’m glad he got the easier match because Cung only has a couple more years left in the tank himself. I want to see him fight Anderson Silva before he retires.
Yah, I think Cung’s possibility of winning just got a lot better! Wanderlei is just so damn entertaining win or lose, but I see him being the underdog goin into this fight. For sure I think one of these guys is gettin knocked out, either by massive flurry of punches by Wand or an onslaught of lethal kicks by Cung.
No way Vitor would have beat Cung, he wins either of these fights. Wand is to old and gettin punch drunk. While Vitor is a great fighter, he’s always had one massive downside his whole career. . he has the biggest “glassjaw” in MMA history!!
Jonathan Goulet may have him beat for the “glassjaw award.”
Silva will go balls out, but I got Cung Le winning this one. I think Vitor had a much better chance at blitzing and KO’ing Le. I think Le’s kicks will break Silva down
Worst, is Leben Ko him in 27 secs, im not sayin Cung Le might do that or early but, Cung Le is a deadly striker, I respect Wand like he was part of my family but, I don’t see Wandy on this winnning unless he goes to decision wich Cung Le always finish fights. Too damn tough.
belfort gets injured too damn much. thats what happens when you juice up early in life then stop
this is a better fight because its won’t end in the first minute with a Vitor KO. Its a much better opportunity for Cung Le to settle into the big stage of the UFC and because Wandy will throw wild hay makers as always Cung Le will have the opportunity to show off some of those kicks from range…which is the only reason Cung Le is fun to watch. Seeing him get blitzed by Vitor would be a waste–Scott Smith got super aggressive for 25 seconds against Cung Le and knocked him out–Vitor was gonna come with that lightening he has in his hands and it woulda been over before Le even got started…that might seem ridiculous to say but Cung Le ain’t gonna be winning no middleweight at 39 cept by the mercy of God–he’s been brought in to be in an entertaining fight for his loyal San Jose/California fan base… so you might as well give him a fight where he can show off his skill set a bit against an always game competitor (in Wandy) but someone obviously not on a level (anymore) where he’s gonna knock Le out in 30 seconds.
Vitor would’ve have knocked him out in under a minute, he got ko’d by scott smith so what do you think Vitor would’ve done to him? This is a better fight imo, I hope Wandy swarms him and get the KO.
My guess knowing how UFC does things something that makes more money for them probably came up and they are just switching Belfort to a different fight. you just never know what the UFC is up to and its only smart to take half what they tell the fans with a grain of salt
all i have to say is damn… Wand better fight smart
battle of the button
That’s gay, eventhough Silva is a decent opponent, belfort would’ve been more of an exciting match-up.
This is the axe murderers last hurrah! If le beats him he should hand em up but I could never count out wandy he has the dynamite in his hands n knees and the experience. Better match for le but good for silva.i.m going silva 70/30. N e body as pumped as I am to see bj lick homo boyz blood off his gloves?? Or hendo/shogun??
I bet cung le had a big prayer thank you on his knees to buda for savinbg his ass. Vitor would have KO’d Cung 10 times faster and harder than Scott Smith did (CAREER ENDING TYPE K O). I still think the Axe murderer will lay down a serious hurt on Cung Le.
Lol, I guess Cung Le’s life just got saved… I think Wanderlei takes this… more active, better competition but Wanderlei has to come with a good game plan like his composure and technique in the Bisping fight. If he just throws wildly just to put on a show then whatever… he’ll let us down.