I’ve explained the Vitor/Ando saga multiple times on this site but let me do it just one more time as best as someone who’s just spilled orange juice all over their keyboard can tell it.
The Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort saga plays out like some screenplay that can only be written by Sherri Shepherd. For anyone that’s not familiar with Sherri Shepherd, she’s one of the co-hosts on that yenta show people call ‘The View’. Her first month on the job, she was asked if the world is flat or round and she said ‘I’m too busy feeding my kid to know‘. I completely understand. If an asteroid was hurdling towards earth, nothing could come between me and my yogurt with the fruit at the bottom.
On September 25th, Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort was announced for UFC 108. Everyone rejoiced, people celebrated on the streets of Brazil and Dan Henderson shrugged his shoulders and went back to grilling his fish tacos. Anderson Silva then issued a warning along the lines of ‘Dude, don’t stand with me‘ and Vitor Belfort essentially said he doesn’t have the passion to fight Anderson Silva. Words started to fly and then we found out that the entire fight could be scrapped and days later…the card was in the recycle bin. The Portuguese magazine Mano a Mano (great name) broke the news that Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort was moved to UFC 109.
Everything seemed kosher in the MMA universe until Anderson Silva told Portal das Lutas that due to a recent elbow surgery, the fight between The Phenom was off. Click here to read the entire quote otherwise continue to eat your roommate’s leftover Chinese food. The bout was rescheduled for UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi and then Vitor Belfort dropped the news to TATAME that he had to undergo surgery. Demian Maia stepped in and we all remember how that went…a fantastic display of skill and precision (I still think Ando did nothing wrong in that fight).
Prior to Belfort’s injury, a face-off was held in Brazil to promote UFC 112 and today, never before seen footage of that staredown has been released. Props to Loretta Hunt for the find.
