Many of us were excited when Vitor Belfort looked great in his knock out win over Terry Martin on Affliction's debut event last month. We all have endured Vitor's ups and downs together and he looked "Phenomenal" again at his new weight class of 185 pounds. As the fights for Affliciton's second show "Day of Reckoning" were announced and we were even more excited when Matt Lindland's request to fight Vitor was granted. Now MMAWeekly has confirmed a rumor that was going around the Sherdog message boards yesterday that Belfort will be out with a injury for the event. Afflcition VP Tom Atencio confirmed Vitor has a broken hand,“Vitor is out, I spoke with him I think yesterday and he told me,” said Atencio. “Actually, it was on Tuesday we had a conversation for about an hour or so, and yeah, I guess he broke his hand in two places is what he told me and he had been having 2, 3 and 4 opinions on it. He finally got the opinion that he wanted I guess and they told him to step out for a while."
This should come as a disappointment for fans of the Brazilian knock out artist who wanted to see him possibly begin a comeback trail of unconscious opponents. We hope he recuperates soon and comes back ready when he is healthy. No word yet if Matt Lindland will get a replacement opponent or will sit out the card for a future fight with Belfort.
UPDATE
Remember yesterday when Jake Shields spoke about possibly fighting a top 185 pound fighter? Well from what we are figuring this is who Shields will be fighting. As we all know Jake Shields demolished Nick "The Goat" Thompson and EliteXC is known for letting its fighters compete in other promotions. It would be the perfect fit for EliteXC and the perfect challenge for Matt Lindland. We will let you know if it becomes a reality when we get word on the matter.
