(As it turns out, Belfort-brand bottled water mostly consists of hydrochloric acid. Good to know. Photo via LasVegasSun)
Due to an undisclosed injury, UFC middleweight Vitor Belfort will not be showing off his “powerful trunks” against Cung Le at UFC 139 (November 19th, San Jose). Dana White broke the news via Twitter, adding that Le’s new opponent will be another Brazilian legend — none other than Wanderlei Silva.
Silva vs. Le will serve as the co-main event of UFC 139, which will be headlined by the PRIDE-era fantasy match between Dan Henderson and Mauricio Rua. Silva is coming off his 27-second knockout loss to Chris Leben at UFC 132, while Le will be making his Octagan debut 17 months after his rematch victory over Scott Smith.
After the booking switch was announced, Belfort tweeted that his injury isn’t serious, and he should be ready to roll again in December. But my God, Belfort’s string of bad luck is unbelievable. From a broken hand before his fight against Matt Lindland, to an injured shoulder before his fight against Anderson Silva, to a bout of hepatitis before his fight against Yoshihiro Akiyama, the dude can’t seem to string together a full year of good health. Lets hope the UFC has another good fight for him when he’s intact again.