Vitor Belfort-Anderson Silva: Injury Forces Belfort Out of UFC 112

It has been confirmed that an injured shoulder will force middleweight top contender Vitor Belfort out of his UFC 112 title fight against champion Anderson Silva.

Popular Brazilian website, Tatame.com , was the first to break the news after speaking with Jayme Sandall, Belfort’s Karate coach, who stated that the challenger had hurt himself while training.

“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 [didn’t] talk with him for 15 days and I don’t know about the results,” Sandall said.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo!Sports has since confirmed Belfort’s injury with UFC president Dana White via text message.

The middleweight fight was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 108 on Jan. 2, however, was postponed due to complications stemming from Silva’s recent elbow surgery.

Silva was last seen jabbing Forrest Griffin into unconsciousness at UFC 101 last August. “The Spider” is currently riding an 11-straight fight win streak, finishing off 10 of those opponents before the final bell. He’s as close to unbeatable as they come in the world of mixed martial arts.

In his return to the Octagon at UFC 103 , the former UFC light heavyweight champion knocked out Rich Franklin in a 195-pound catchweight bout. Belfort has rolled off five consecutive wins of his own, including a couple victories for the now-defunct Affliction.

UFC 112 will be take place inside the Concert Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. No word on what the UFC’s next move might be, however, despite coming off a lopsided three round battle this weekend at UFC 109 , red-hot Chael Sonnen told Ariel Helwani on Tuesday that he’s resumed training in case an injury took place.

Although he may have resumed training, Sonnen is battling an injury of his own; he is sporting a significant cut on his forehead, possibly impeding his ability to receive medical clearance to make the Apr. 10 date.

The Injury Bug strikes again…

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This story originally appeared on the MMA website, 5thRound.com