UFC middleweight contender Vitor Belfort has already undergone successful shoulder surgery and is expected to be out of training for at least four months, a source told MMA Fighting.

Belfort had suffered through shoulder pain since mid-2009 and had undergone several anti-inflammatory injections since that time, including leading up to his Sept. 2009 match with Rich Franklin, a fight he won by first-round TKO to set up his expected title match with Anderson Silva.

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It's official.

Demian Maia has been tapped as Vitor Belfort's replacement for the UFC middleweight title fight against Anderson Silva at UFC 112 from the Concert Arena from Ferrari World, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, on Saturday, April 10.

MMAmania.com (www.mmamania.com) confirmed the news with a source close to the situation earlier today
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I love it, can't wait. I think its funny when I hear people compare demian maia to thales leites, those people are in for a suprise.
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Maia's striking looked pitiful in his last fight. I just don't see how he can get close enough to pull guard. Someone with a Sonnen-type gameplan could feasibly take a decision against Silva but that fight's quite a ways away...
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Can't even see that right now. Anderson is just as dangerous from his back as he is anywhere. I don't give Maia much of a chance but I hope he can make it a good fight nonetheless.

BTW, UFC 110 prelims will not air on Spike this time.
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I don't see him pulling guard in most situations , he's better than that.
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ROTHWELL OUT, PEROSH IN

A last second change has been made to this weekend's UFC 110 card in Australia as Ben Rothwell has been forced to drop out of his fight against Mirko CroCop due to illness, and will be replaced by veteran fighter, Anthony Perosh.

Also the Australian undercard rematch between Elvis Sinosic and Chris Haseman has been pulled off the card completely due to a late shoulder injury to Sinosic.

The UFC announced by moves on Thursday, while also stating that the card will stand at a total of 9 bouts for the Sunday afternoon show.

Anthony Perosh (10-5), who trains along with Elvis Sinosic in Sydney, Australia, gets the call to step in on short notice and face the former Pride Grand Prix winner.

Winning his last fight by TKO in December, Perosh steps in just a day before the official weigh-in for the event, but with the bout being contested at heavyweight it shouldn't present any problems.

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CroCop cut in sparring, required stitches, still fighting UFC 110

Just 24 hours after learning that his kickboxer opponent Ben Rothwell is out ot UFC 110 and will be replaced by a ground fighter, Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filipovic has reportedly had more bad news. According to sources in Croatia, he has received a bad cut in a pre-fight sparring workout and has had to have stitches.

Croatian website MMA Axion reported this morning that Filipovic was sparring with his team mate Sasa Mucnjak when he received a bad cut above the eyeline. The cut was stitched and Filipovic has declined to pull out of the fight, saying he will not let weeks of hard preparation go to waste.

But those weeks of hard preparation were to face a kickboxing stylist and yesterday Ben Rothwell was pulled off the card because of an infection and replaced by Anthony Perosh, a second-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and a completely different style to Rothwell.

The UFC allegedly asked Randy Couture and Quinton ‘Ramapge’ Jackson if they would take the fight with Filipovic at short notice but both turned it down flat. Perosh - who has an 0-2 record in the UFC from 2006 - took it on two days notice on the understanding he would get a four-fight contract out of it.

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Event: UFC 110
Location: Sydney, Australia
Date: Sunday February 21st, 2010 (airs Saturday @ 10pm in the US)

Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Wanderlei Silva vs Michael Bisping
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs Anthony Perosh
Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
Ryan Bader vs. Keith Jardine

Undercard:

Brian Foster vs. Chris Lytle
James Te Huna vs. Igor Pokrajac
CB Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic
Stephan Bonnar vs Krzysztof Soszynski
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I don't think its a question whos Jits is better, but Thales has far superior stand-up to Maia. I am a big Maia fan, he is a very easy guy to root foor. But lets face it, He isn't going to get close enough to Anderson to take him down without taking serious damage. If there is any question watch the 40 second debacle of his against Nate.

I think the only way Anderson loses is to a wrestler who can manage a take down, and ground and pound out a win.
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Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Wanderlei Silva vs Michael Bisping Always ready to see Wanderlei fight
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs Anthony Perosh Go Crocop
Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
Ryan Bader vs. Keith Jardine

Undercard:

Brian Foster vs. Chris Lytle
James Te Huna vs. Igor Pokrajac
CB Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic I wonder if CB will show up and fight
Stephan Bonnar vs Krzysztof Soszynski This should be good
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Let's start estimating how long this can lasts against Cro Cop. I'm saying 2 minutes and thirty five seconds.
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Remember last time people bet on cro-cop against a no-name:

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Yeah he got Cro-Cop'd
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I hearing cro crop might be out. If so they should move goran reljic into the main event I want to see him fight.
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Nope, he is still in.


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glad wandy won, he was punching to win not to score points like bisbings weak takedowns. Valasquez is a beast, those 2 fights were great, the rest - meh
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Joe "daddy' losing was a good fight as well.
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bisbing should quit he's losing to old men.
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Agreed! Cain is for real, no doubt.

Agreed again. :-)

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I hope Brock Lesnar Dies in the Ring

Well we all knew Mir was getting a bit mental regarding Lesnar, and that some of the boasting is great to create some hype, but now he seems to have outdone himself!

UFC star Frank Mir has unleashed a sickening rant about former WWE world champion Brock Lesnar — saying he wants to kill him.

Lesnar lost on his UFC debut to Mir, but later defeated the Vegas-born star to win the company's heavyweight world championship.

But ahead of talk about a third possible clash, Mir says he HATES Lesnar and wants him to DIE.

During a radio interview with former WCW commentator Mark Madden, he stormed: "I want to fight Brock Lesnar. I hate who he is as a person.

"I want to break his neck in the ring."

"I want him to be the first person that dies to Octagon-related injuries."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...-the-ring.html

Just as I was gaining a little bit of respect for Frank Mir, he opens his mouth....again. Unreal. I can't wait to see Lesnar/Mir III!
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Is he back on a cycle?
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Probably. How else could he put on 30 pounds of muscle in a few months, no doubt. But I think he is a little "off" in the head to begin with. Major delusions of grandeur. :-)
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Just wondering if anyone else here trains? I train an BJJ at Renzo Gracie Jiu Jitsu in central Jersey, and MMA also.
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