(We immediately regretted not wiping down that rowing machine.)
Due to the torn knee ligaments and broken ribs that forced him to pull out of a scheduled UFC 116 meeting with Yoshihiro Akiyama, Wanderlei Silva hasn’t competed since his unanimous decision win over Michael Bisping last February. According to a new report by MMA Fighting, Silva will be ready to rumble in the spring, and his opponent is likely to be Brian Stann, who’s coming off a first-round smashing of Chris Leben at UFC 125.
We expect Leben to be all kinds of pissed once he hears about this. After replacing Silva against Akiyama on very short notice then scoring a miraculous submission victory, Leben called out Wanderlei Silva, and Silva happily accepted the challenge. But instead of keeping Leben benched until the Axe Murderer recovered from his injuries, the UFC decided to throw him into a fight with Brian Stann on New Year’s Day. Stann won in dominant fashion, then he called out Wanderlei Silva. His wish was granted. Life’s not fair, Chris.
Personally, we would have liked to see Silva and Chael Sonnen settle their beef, but then Sonnen had to go and get his contract frozen due to that little money laundering misunderstanding. If Silva can successfully rebound against Stann, it’s always a possibility for down the road…