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During the holiday, MMA Junkie reported that Anderson Silva will be unable to fight against Vitor Belfort at UFC 109 this February.

Silva underwent elbow surgery back in October and ever since that operation there have been numerous and contradicting reports about the UFC middleweight champion's status.

In fact, there was a great deal of confusion over the surgery itself as several reports negated one another. Even when it was firmly established that Anderson would undergo elbow surgery there has been an equal level of confusion encompassing Silva's return.

Initially it was thought that Silva would return at UFC 108 but then it became public that Silva's recovery wasn't going well and that he would be unavailable for the UFC's traditional end of the year card. It was then reported that Silva would be ready in time for UFC 109 but now that appears to off the table. With all the perceived waffling WKR labeled the situation the, "Anderson Silva Elbow Saga."

The turmoil over Anderson Silva's elbow has caused many MMA fans to question whether the middleweight champion is being disingenuous with his injury. Silva's camp initially lobbied for a number one contender bout between Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt and it was also reported that the camp was unhappy with the Vitor Belfort fight, as they felt that Belfort hadn't done enough to earn a title shot.

Fast forward a few months and a number one contender bout appears out of the question. Dan Henderson is a free agent and his contract negotiations with the UFC have stalled while Nate Marquardt signed on to fight Chael Sonnen at UFC 109.

Once again the UFC finds itself in a precarious position. They are short on main events, due to a wicked injury spell and they need to to find meaningful opponents for champions in stagnant divisions. Perhaps this means we will get to see Belfort vs. Marquardt at UFC 109?