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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Although it was reportedly an injury that pulled Vitor Belfort out of his UFC 122 bout with Yushin Okami in November, that may not be the case. According to one of Belfort's coaches Shawn Tompkins on Facebook, Belfort is 100% healthy.
Said Tompkins, "[Yes] you will receive Vitor Belfort news very soon. All I can tell you as his coach is that he is 100% healthy."
Speculation can now begin as to why Belfort was pulled, but it seems fairly clear if the injury reports are not true that he's been pulled to face Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Championship, in lieu of having a #1 contender's fight first. This could mean Silva will be ready to return for the New Year's Day card.
Penick's Analysis: I can understand the move if Silva is ready to return, and obviously until something is announced on it this is only speculation that he's getting the title shot, but I'm not sure that I agree with it. Belfort still hasn't fought a middleweight fight in the UFC since returning, and the Okami fight was going to be his opportunity to earn a title shot. With Chael Sonnen's steroid test failure, we're back to him likely being handed a shot. But if Silva's trying to return earlier than February, and it looks pretty good for New Year's Day right now, then it's probably one of the only moves they could have made at this point. But we'll wait for more news on the subject to find out if this is, indeed, the case.
UPDATE: Dana White has posted on Twitter that Vitor is not injured, so his removal from 122 is definitely not injury related.
RELATED STORY: UFC NEWS: Vitor Belfort out of UFC 122; Nate Marquardt steps in to face Yushin Okami in Germany: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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