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Well that was quick. I spend a night away from the computer for a change, come back and Demian Maia is fighting Anderson Silva for the middleweight title at UFC 112.

“It’s always tough when a top fighter like Vitor Belfort has to pull out of a big title fight, but we have found a high quality replacement,” said UFC President Dana White.

“Top contender Chael Sonnen was not available due to injuries sustained in his fight with Nate Marquardt, so top six middleweight Demian Maia will step in to fight for the title. Maia is an Abu Dhabi grappling champion, a five-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion, and he is 12-1 in MMA and coming off a win over Dan Miller at UFC 109. Anderson Silva vs Demian Maia will be a matchup between MMA’s best striker and MMA’s best grappler.”

Outside of Chael Sonnen, I definitely think Demian Maia is best alternative to challenge Silva for the title. His striking is obviously nowhere near Anderson’s level, but if Maia can get him to the ground all bets are off. To be honest, I think his chances are much better than Vitor’s was.

The only issue is Maia was medically suspended until August for a cut on his eyelid. There’s no athletic commission in Abu Dhabi, but I don’t think the UFC would put someone in the cage overseas if a US athletic commission wouldn’t allow it. They’ve officially announced it, so I’m presuming they’re confident a doctor can clear him in time for the fight. At least I hope that’s the plan.

Image via Sherdog

Update: Demian Maia is excited…

“I knew about it last night. I still can’t believe it. My manager called me and they asked if I wanted to fight for the belt. I said ‘of course, you don’t even have to ask it’…I’ll have time to prepare an strategy. I’m coming from a heavy training and I’m in a fight rhythm. I’ll let my body rest this week and I’ll start the training next week…I still don’t know where I’ll train, but I’ll go train Boxing with (Luis Carlos) Dorea for sure. My physical preparation wlll be with (Rafael) Alejarra…If I say to you that I’m gonna exchange with him I’ll be lying. It’s the same thing if I say he’ll go to the ground with me. But I’ll go to this fight ready for everything. It’s a title fight and the title always was my dream. I imagined having this title shot a year ago, but I had two more fights and God, for one reason,  gave it to me now.”

Update 2: Ed Soares is actually pleased with the match-up for a change.

“I think it’s a very interesting matchup. I think it’s MMA’s best striker against MMA’s best grappler. I think it kind of brings back the old-school UFC of standup fighter vs. grappler…I think Demian is a professional. He’s a great person. He’s a very humble guy, and he’s a very talented guy. This is the classic, old-school MMA fight where it’s the world’s best grappler against the world’s best striker. It’s got that old-school feel…I think it’s a shame that Chael wasn’t able to take the fight because I know with all that crap he was talking about Anderson this and Anderson that it would be interesting for him to put all those things he had to say into the octagon. But then again, you’ve got Demian Maia here who is a guy who submitted Chael stepping up here and taking the fight on less-than-two-months’ notice…Demian obviously has improved his stand-up game quite a bit. I’m not going to say he’s an A-plus striker now, but you definitely can see that his striking game has improved. It might not be in his best interest to stand with Anderson, but I think he can stand with Anderson a lot better than he was able to six months ago. He seemed like he knew how to move around the octagon much better, and he looked like he felt a lot more comfortable using his hands. He wasn’t just desperate to take his opponent down. I think that’s going to be important. I think that’s going to present some challenges.”

Well, we can cross Chael Sonnen’s name off the list of potential challengers to face Anderson Silva at UFC 112. UFC matchmaker Joe Silva has informed Kevin Iole that Sonnen will not be offered the Silva fight.

The middleweight title fight between Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort that has been postponed multiple times already is no longer happening at UFC 112. There’s been an injury, but this time it’s not Anderson, it’s Vitor. News of the injury first surfaced on Tatame earlier this afternoon.

One of the most expected fights of 2010 will not happen anymore. The title fight between Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort, set to UFC 112 main event, will possibly be cancelled, as TATAME.com learned from close sources that the challenger is injured and won’t be able to recover in time.

Jayme Sandall, Karate trained of the challenger, revealed to TATAME.com that Belfort had a shoulder injury, but he doesn’t know how bad it is. “He was training but not using the arm for a long time because of the injury, he said he’d stop for a while. He said he’d have it scanned to know how bad it is, but I don’t talk with him for 15 days and I don’t know about the results”, said.

Kevin Iole has since confirmed with Dana White that Vitor has in fact sustained a shoulder injury and won’t make it to Abu Dhabi for the title. It’s unknown if the UFC will seek a replacement, such as Chael Sonnen, or if they’ll just postpone the fight once again. A report is expected on Yahoo! Sports shortly with further details. I’ll update then.

Image via the UFC

Update: Iole’s report is up. All it adds at the moment is Anderson Silva will stay on the card, but they aren’t sure if he’ll defend his title or not. I assume they’re first choice is replacing Belfort with Chael Sonnen but it’s unknown at the moment if he’d be ready and willing for the quick turnaround, plus his facial lacerations will likely be a major obstacle.

Update 2: Dana White has confirmed that Anderson Silva will defend his middleweight title at UFC 112, but didn’t say who his opponent will be. Chael Sonnen has been handed a medical suspension that prohibits him from training with contact until March 9 and fighting until March 24. Basically, it’s possible but it wouldn’t give him much time to prepare for the biggest fight of his career, although he apparently indicated after UFC 109 he would continue training in case Belfort was injured. Vitor is expected to undergo surgery for his shoulder.

Chael Sonnen reveals his non-gameplan gameplan for Anderson Silva.

“As soon as Anderson tries to punch me, I’m going to stick my forehead in his chest, run him against the fence, pick him up, put him on the canvas and that’s the end of that round. As soon as Anderson tries to kick me, I’m going to stick my forehead in his chest, run him into that fence, put him on the ground, that’s the end of that round.”

“I am five strike attempts by him away from being the UFC champion.”

If it was a three-rounder, I’d probably give Sonnen a much better chance, but five rounds sure gives Anderson a lot of opportunities to cave his head in with a knee. Gotta stick with the champ on this one.

By the way, Sonnen is set to appear on Fox & Friends tomorrow morning to talk about his bid to become a Oregon State Representative. I can’t wait to hear the sound bytes that come from that.

Video via MMA Weekly

Guess who?

“We are fine if this is what the UFC wants, but if you look at this logistically, Sonnen should fight Demian Maia first. Demian beat up easily, by submission, so why not make them fight first, to determine who gets a shot at the title?”

Yep, that’s Ed Soares vetoing another title contender for Anderson Silva. It’s definitely becoming a pattern. First it was Dan Henderson, then it was Nate Marquardt followed by Vitor Belfort. Basically no one in the middleweight division is worthy enough to fight Anderson Silva if you ask Soares. Good thing he’s not the matchmaker, otherwise Silva would never fight anybody.

Image via CombatLifestyle.com

Chael Sonnen is going to get the next middleweight title shot. The question is, against who? Anderson Silva or Vitor Belfort? We won’t know until April 10, but I can tell you Sonnen is rooting for Anderson Silva. Not because he wants to test himself against someone who’s widely considered one of the best fighters in the world though, Sonnen just thinks he’s a much easier opponent to beat. Seriously…

Chael Sonnen has quickly emerged as one of the most outspoken fighters in the game. He blasted Yushin Okami for failing to help sell their fight. He trashed Anderson Silva for pretending to not understand English (he has more for Anderson below). And here he is again basically calling out every fighter who has ever said they have a game plan and dedicate themselves to being a “full-time fighter.”

The UFC announced UFC 112 yesterday at a press conference held in Abu Dhabi. We didn’t really learn anything new other than the event will be held outdoors at the Concert Arena in Ferrari World (artist’s rendition) on Yas Island. Both Anderson Silva and BJ Penn will put their title up for grabs against Vitor Belfort and Frankie Edgar, respectively, and Renzo Gracie will make his UFC debut against Matt Hughes. The event will be held on April 10. Check out more pics from the press conference on the UFC’s official Facebook page (login required).