Former Pride champion Wanderlei Silva had been targeting a fight against UFC bad boy Chael Sonnen, but it seems injuries will keep him out of that potential bout and any fight for that matter until at least 2014.
Silva last competed in March, when he knocked out former WEC champion Brian Stann in a Fight of the Night effort during a UFC on Fuel TV event held in Saitama, Japan.
Since that time, Silva has been sparring in a war of words with Sonnen about the two fighters squaring off inside the Octagon.
Silva recently released a nearly five-minute verbal tirade via YouTube, where he asked to face Sonnen in a five-round main event fight, but never bothered to mention when or where he’d like the fight to happen.
The reason behind that could very well be because Silva is currently nursing an unknown injury, and won’t be able to fight again until next year.
“He’s not gonna be healthy until January,” UFC president Dana White said about Silva on Wednesday. “He can’t even start training until January.”
The nature of the ailment is unknown at this time, but Silva being out until 2014 virtually eliminates any chance of the fight with Sonnen happening right now. Sonnen has openly stated he wants to fight again this year and hopes to land a slot as the co-main event for UFC 167 in November.
As far as Silva’s future with the UFC is concerned, it’s still on solid ground, despite an apparent demand for pay-per-view bonuses made by the fighter to take the bout with Sonnen.
White revealed last week that Silva asked for pay-per-view points, which amounts to money a fighter will be paid based upon how many sales the promotion receives for that particular fight card on pay-per-view.
White scoffed at the idea then, but says there are no hard feelings with Silva and they will sit down and have another conversation soon, but right now he’s injured and can’t fight anyways.
“I know publicly it looked like whatever with Wanderlei,” White said. “I like Wanderlei very much and I respect him as a fighter and as a person. Me and Wanderlei will figure this thing out. I’m not mad at him. There’s no animosity.”
UPDATE: On Thursday, White revealed a little bit more information about Silva’s injury and that he is currently undergoing treatment so he can return to action next year.
“He can’t even fight until January. He’s got something wrong with his back or sciatica, something is wrong with him right now,” White said. “He’s seeing a doctor.”
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com