Vitor Belfort Breaks Hand, Out of UFC 147 Main Event Against Wanderlei Silva


(Looks healthy to me. Rub some dirt on it and suck in that lip, kid. / Photo via @vitorbelfort)

When we finally get around to making our “Ten Top Injury-Cursed MMA Fighters of All Time” list, Vitor Belfort has to be in the top 3 based on the number of marquee fights that have been scrapped due to his horrifically bad luck. The UFC announced over the weekend that Belfort has suffered (another) broken hand in training, and won’t be able to fight Wanderlei Silva in the main event of UFC 147 (June 23rd; Belo Horizonte, Brazil). The event will go on as scheduled, with the Axe Murderer headlining against an opponent to be named later.

This isn’t just awful news for Vitor — it’s even worse news for UFC 147, which was originally supposed to be headlined by the Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen mega-rematch. After that match was moved to Vegas, Jose Aldo was briefly considered for the headlining spot, before his title defense against Erik Koch was made official for UFC 149 in Calgary. The point is, Belfort vs. Silva might not have been enough to carry a pay-per-view in the first place, and now the card is almost completely at square one less than a month before showtime.

So who would you like to see step in against Wanderlei Silva? And should the UFC consider scrapping this card altogether?


(Looks healthy to me. Rub some dirt on it and suck in that lip, kid. / Photo via @vitorbelfort)

When we finally get around to making our “Ten Top Injury-Cursed MMA Fighters of All Time” list, Vitor Belfort has to be in the top 3 based on the number of marquee fights that have been scrapped due to his horrifically bad luck. The UFC announced over the weekend that Belfort has suffered (another) broken hand in training, and won’t be able to fight Wanderlei Silva in the main event of UFC 147 (June 23rd; Belo Horizonte, Brazil). The event will go on as scheduled, with the Axe Murderer headlining against an opponent to be named later.

This isn’t just awful news for Vitor — it’s even worse news for UFC 147, which was originally supposed to be headlined by the Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen mega-rematch. After that match was moved to Vegas, Jose Aldo was briefly considered for the headlining spot, before his title defense against Erik Koch was made official for UFC 149 in Calgary. The point is, Belfort vs. Silva might not have been enough to carry a pay-per-view in the first place, and now the card is almost completely at square one less than a month before showtime.

So who would you like to see step in against Wanderlei Silva? And should the UFC consider scrapping this card altogether?