Vitor Belfort Suffers Broken Hand, Pulled From UFC 147 | UFC NEWS

By Jonathan Kirschner

UFC President Dana White confirmed at the UFC 146 post fight press conference that Vitor Belfort has suffered a broken hand and is out of the UFC 147 main event. Originally scheduled to fight Wanderlei Silva, it is unknown exactly how Belfort broke his hand and there is no timetable for a return.

It seems as if UFC 147 is just not meant to be.

The event was originally slated to take place in a soccer stadium in Rio De Janeiro that was going to house 80,000 to 100,000 screaming fans watch Anderson Silva attempt to defend his UFC Middleweight Title against Chael Sonnen. Due to a United Nations meeting being in town the same weekend, it was near impossible for the location to have enough hotel rooms for the UFC talent and UN officials and the rematch between Silva and Sonnen was moved to Las Vegas for UFC 148.

It was at that point where the coaches of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil would take the headlining spot. With Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort in the main event, they felt as if they needed more drawing power to make the pay-per-view appealing to those outside of Brazil. That’s when they attempted to move Jose Aldo’s title fight to UFC 147, but those plans got scrapped and his fight stayed on UFC 149.

Now, just over a month removed from the main card shuffle, Vitor Belfort suffered a broken hand and the main event has to change yet again. The top choice for a replacement would have been Alan Belcher, but he suffered a hand injury in his bout against Rousimar Palhares that will put him on the sidelines for a bit.

Vitor Belfort released a statement on his Twitter (including the picture of his hand seen above) stating how he cannot sleep and he keeps thinking about what happened. He went on to say that he’s is very sad but will return stronger than before.

Stay tuned to BJPENN.com for more on this story as it develops.

Read More: Vitor Belfort (NEWS), UFC 147 (NEWS), Broken Hand (NEWS)