In cased you missed the TUF 9 Finale, Dana White made a surprising announcement during the “Inside the Octagon” segment.
Dana said he’s “working” on getting Vitor Belfort, and hinted at a possible title fight against Anderson Silva. (Quote via BE)
“While [Anderson Silva] is fighting Forrest [Griffin], I’m working on some other 185 pounders. Vitor Belfort – he is a former heavyweight who moved down to 205. Now he’s at 185 pounds. He’s got great hands, he’s good on the ground, and if his head is right, he can be a very dangerous guy. I think that would be a great match up.”
It’s a little surprising since Vitor is currently under contract with Affliction and is signed to fight a very dangerous Jorge Santiago on August 1 at “Trilogy.” It’s not like Dana to make an announcement during a broadcast about someone he’d like to sign, but he rarely does anything without a purpose, so something must be going on behind the scenes. The Santiago fight is the last on Belfort’s Affliction contract. Maybe Dana’s trying to put a little added pressure on them? I don’t know, but if Vitor gets past Santiago, he would be a tremendous addition to the UFC middleweight division. I don’t know that he’s ready for Anderson just yet, but Vitor-Wanderlei II would make for a hell of a fight.
Also during the segment, Dana announced Machida vs Shogun for UFC 104.
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[...] the beans in a national television spot during The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale that he wanted to set up a Silva-Belfort fight. He then told The Cofield & Cokin Show on ESPNRadio1100 that he had no interest in [...]