Vitor 100%* healthy and instead slated to fight A. Silva at UFC 125

So, Vitor's 100% healthy at least for the time as his coach Shawn Tompkins twitted, and there are a few change of  plans for the whole mix up at the top of the MW division. The new line up will be The phenom vs The Spider and Nate will be stepping up to fight Okami almost as I speculated in the "Striking While the Iron is Hot: Why Nate Marquardt Needs to get Vocal." So, anyhow, we're going to hopefully see another edge of your seat fight where the Spider gets tested and possibly losess and we get to see Nate fight another top contender for which if he does beat Okami in an impressive fashion (no close fight). I will have no problem with Nate stepping up to fight Vitor, I mean the Spide. Hopefully this will come to fruition with, no in

Champ Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort targeted for early 2011, possibly UFC 125

by John Morgan and Dann Stupp on Sep 22, 2010 at 12:47 pm ET

As it turns out, Vitor Belfort (19-8 MMA, 8-4 UFC) isn't injured. And, in fact, he's expected to meet UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva (27-4 MMA, 12-0 UFC) early next year, possibly in the headliner of a UFC 125 event on Jan. 1 in Las Vegas.

Sources close to the event today confirmed the tentative plans with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

Belfort had been scheduled to fight Yushin Okami in the headliner of November's UFC 122 event before a recent card change.

Instead, as first reported by MMAWeekly.com, Okami now fights recent UFC Fight Night 22 winner Nate Marquardt. Although initially believed to be injured, Belfort is, in fact, healthy, according to a recent Twitter post from UFC president Dana White. Belfort now will bypass the No. 1 contender's bout at UFC 122 for an immediate title shot with Silva.

UFC 125 takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and the night's main card airs on pay-per-view. The event currently needs a headliner, and Silva vs. Belfort certainly fits the bill.

Belfort, of course, takes a slot initially designated for Chael Sonnen (25-11-1 MMA, 4-4 UFC), who dominated Silva for more than four rounds at UFC 117 before succumbing to a triangle choke in the final two minutes of the fight. Sonnen had been promised an immediate rematch, but he failed his UFC 117 drug test, which he plans to appeal. The process could go well into 2011 before it's resolved.

Belfort had been promised an earlier promised title shot. However, when he was sidelined by a shoulder injury, Demian Maia and then Sonnen got shots at Silva's belt. Nevertheless, Belfort is riding a five-fight win streak, and in his most recent bout at UFC 103, he returned to the UFC for the first time in four years and scored a first-round knockout of Rich Franklin in a 195-pound catchweight bout.

Silva, meanwhile, moved to 12-0 in the organization and made his record seventh straight UFC title defense with the August win over Sonnen. He's now won 13 straight fights and 15 of his past 16 while dominating the elite of the middleweight division. All but two of the wins came via stoppage.
Source MMAJunkie