An injury has forced Vitor Belfort out of his UFC 122 main event fight against Yushin Okami in Germany. In to replace Belfort will be Nate Marquardt, who just picked up a TKO win over Rousimar Palhares at UFC Fight Night 22.
Marquardt's placement in the fight was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the bout, who stated the fight has been signed for the new main event at UFC 122.
Bouncing back strong from his loss to Chael Sonnen in February, Marquardt made short work of Palhares in their fight last Wednesday night in Austin, Texas.
Following a leg lock attempt from Palhares early in the first round, Marquardt hammered the Brazilian with a punch that rattled him, and then proceeded to finish the fight just seconds later, getting the win at 3:28 into the bout.
The win was Marquardt's ninth in the UFC. The Colorado fighter had stated he hoped to get another fight sooner rather than later following the victory. It looks like he got his wish.
There has been no official word about the injury sustained by Belfort, but MMAWeekly.com will continue to follow the news and provide an update when more information is available.
The bout between Marquardt and Okami will headline UFC 122 in Germany, which will air via tape delay in the United States on Spike TV.
Prior to the change, the fight between Okami and Belfort was to determine a new No. 1 contender to the middleweight title. In all likelihood, the fight between Okami and Marquardt would carry the same stipulation.
While the internet sources have said Crocop was injured, maybe this is another false report and really its just setting up Vitor/Silva as a fill in for Chael. Anyways, I guess it will come out via Danas twitter soon.
