UFC 139 shakeup: Vitor Belfort out, Wanderlei Silva in against Cung Le
An injury has forced Vitor Belfort (20-9 MMA, 9-4 UFC) out of November's UFC 139 event, and fellow middleweight Wanderlei Silva (31-11-1 MMA, 3-5 UFC) has stepped in to fight Cung Le (7-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC).
UFC president Dana White today announced the change via Twitter.
The nature of Belfort's injury was not disclosed.
UFC 139 takes place Nov. 19 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. With a heavyweight title fight between champ Cain Velasquez and Junior Santos moved from UFC 139 to UFC on FOX 1 – and given Le's massive following in San Jose – he and Silva will take at least a co-headlining slot on the card.
The night's main card airs on pay-per-view.
Le, 39, went 17-0 as a Sanshou kickboxer before moving to MMA in 2006. Le, who hasn't fought in 16 months while pursuing an acting career, has fought exclusively for Strikeforce, where he posted a 7-1 MMA record (with seven knockout victories) with an array of flashy and highlight-reel wins. His only defeat during his run came to Scott Smith, who pulled off a stunning come-from-behind KO win in the final couple minutes of their December 2009 bout. However, Le avenged the defeat in his next bout with a KO set up by a spinning back kick.
Thanks heavily to Le, Strikeforce has drawn some massive crowds in San Jose, where the fighter has many Vietnamese fans. In fact, he was a part of both of the best-attended Strikeforce events in history. Both took place in San Jose.
Silva returns to the cage for the first time since a knockout loss to Chris Leben at UFC 132. The former PRIDE titleholder has been stuck in a bit of a skid with six losses in his past eights, and his lone victories came over Michael Bisping (via close decision) and Keith Jardine (knockout). However, the 35-year-old remains a fan favorite and one of the sport's most admired fighters.