Belfort Forced Out Again, Marquardt To Step in To Fight Okami (Updated)

An injury has forced Belfort to pull out of his fight against Okami at UFC 122. This is the second time in a row that Belfort has been injured and had to pull out of a fight.

MMAWeekly.com was the first to report the news.

Filling the slot for the main event fight against Okami is Nate Marquardt. Marquardt is coming off a big knockout win at the recent Fight Night event against Rousimar Palhares.

The short notice shouldn’t be an issue since Marquardt didn’t take much damage in his fight against Palhares. With Chael Sonnen’s recent suspension for testing positive for PEDS, this fight looks to be a number one contender match.

This brings an interesting match up to the table as both fighters have posted losses to the man who was slated for a rematch against Anderson Silva. This is a much better match up for the number one contender fight than the Belfort vs. Okami fight.

Belfort has still yet to fight at Middleweight and both Okami and Belfort have paid their dues to earn a title shot.

Still no word on what the injury is that has pushed Belfort out but you have to wonder how UFC brass is looking at a string of injuries. After the Todd Duffee release, many believe that the UFC cut him because he couldn’t avoid injuries, including Duffee himself.

Belfort is a much higher caliber fighter though and this would not be the case, but it could mean a lesser caliber opponent in his future. Back to back injuries to Belfort may have lowered Belfort’s ranking on the totem pole.

Update*

It has been confirmed by Dana White that Belfort is healthy and was pulled to participate in a title match against Anderson Silva.