Wanderlei Silva drops out of UFC 116; Chris Leben confirmed as replacement
Posted on June 22, 2010, 04:49 PM by Daniel CassidyIn a rather disappointing turn of events, Brazilian mega star Wanderlei Silva has been forced to drop out of his UFC 116 bout Korean Japaneese fighter Yoshihiro "Sexyama" Akiyama.
Wanderlei was forced to drop out of the bout with Akiyama due to fractured ribs. Further details are still unclear. Dana White has confirmed that despite this, Akiyama, who defeated Alan Belcher in his UFC debut. will still fight on the Lesnar vs Carwin card, however an opponent is still yet to be decided.
Akiyama currently holds an mma record of 13 -1-0-2. Prior to UFC, he was a vetran of K-1's mma promotions, his only loss coming via knees from Jerome LeBanner. UFC 116 Lesnar vs Carwin will take place on July 3, 2010 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
HT: MMAFighting.com
Updated news:
With Silva now out of UFC 116, it seems Chris Leben could be the man to step up against Akiyama. Despite competing on the TUF 11 Finale this past Saturday night, in a win over previously undefeated Aaron Simpson. Official medical rulings gave Leben the all clear, and he is legally able to fight immediately. MMAweekly.com are currently reporting that The Crippler has accepted the bout. A win for Leben, currently 20-6, would catapult him straight in amongst the UFC's top 10 middleweights.
Meanwhile, this is what Wanderlei Silva had say to Fighters Only about his withdrawal from the fight:
"I went through a very tense and difficult weekend and had a very hard decision. Two weeks ago I felt pain in my knee while I was training wrestling. I had an MRI of my knee and three doctors told me my knee was torn. I took medicine to help with the pain, and although my knee felt loose, I said 'no,' this date is very important to me and I continued training. Last Friday, during sparring, I injured my rib. It was very painful and the next day I had an x-ray and an MRI. I discovered I had three broken ribs. After years of fighting, my body made me stop this time.
This is a very, very, very hard moment for me. This was a fight I really, really desired. You cannot imagine how much I wanted to fight on this card. It was my birthday, I had friends and family from Brazil and around the world coming to see me and now I cannot fight. I apologize to my opponent. I hope that I can fight with you in the future. You are an amazing fighter."
Stay tuned to LowKick.com for more as it happens
Comments
Ah dude that sucks, Wand is the man
Well thats a real kick in the ****.
I was really looking forward to watch this fight, UFC 116 already had a pretty weak card apart from the main event now it got weaker
Must of been in the same camp as steve smith....Damn broken bones!!!
I think im the only one who knows what your talkin about haha
awwww i wanted to see this one, hope there is a good replacement lined up!
damn it
Sucks getting older.
Bummer Wandi, I know how long it takes to heal ribs and sometimes they never heal right,,,,,thats me
hes not as old as everyone acts like he is. People always talkin like hes past his prime and in his 40s, hes not even close to 40, hes only 33.
he mite be 33 but from all the years he has been fighting and all the punishment he has taken his body is much older than 33, just like Nog who is also only 33 but has taken alot of punishment over the years and has affected his body
exactly, look at big nog compared to his brother and you'd think there's 7-8 years between the two of them
That shouldn't effect the way his bones mend. Also, he seems to be getting better now that he is fighting at MW. He looked so good and technically improved against Bisbing that I would have my eye on him as a title prospect if Silva ever goes to LHW full time. I don't ever see Wandy beating Silva but he is looking good enough to beat the other top MWs now. He looked more composed in the Bisbing fight also.
akiyama vs bisping if hes up to it
this sucks but short notice opponents have proved to be pretty exciting. Brilz is a good example
F U C K. I was really looking forward to this fight too. GET BETTER WAND!!!!
I know there are still good bouts on this card however this is a huge hit.
I probably won't buy this card now knowing that Wandy is gone and the main even is going to last about 3.5 minutes.
Too bad about Wand, I was looking forward to the fight.
As to Chris - just goes to prove one of the reasons I like CL and why I hope the UFC keeps him around, regardless of a spotty record - he's a tough guy and he'll take a fight, against anybody, at the drop of a hat; CL doesn't turn down fights.
Good for Chris - he looked good at the TUF finale. He will probably lose, but he'll give it his best (as always) and YA better take him seriously...lest sexy gets knocked out, because CL always has that in him.
...this is a really good career fight for Chris - win or lose.
I think Chris wins this fight. The only way he'll lose is if he gets submitted, which means Akiyama would have to be able to hurt him standing. I don't think he can.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Screw Leben!!!
I hope it will end up a good fight.
all this whining for what?
This will be a great fight and even better once Leben KOs Akiyama.
I agree. Leben is a tough scrapper and will bring it to Akiyama. Too bad Wandy is not fighting but I would rather see someone like Leben in there than Bisping. Leben is the man for stepping up, especially since he just fought. He knows an opportunity when he sees one.
I agree as well. I didn't even know WAND was on the card - I'm watching this event for the big guys, they could have gay midget fights before and after and i wouldn't care.
So Leben is gonna fight twice in 1 month ?
Now that's a fighter.
respect to leben for taking the fight. good guy.
Yeah it totally sucks, that would of been fun to watch, now we are going to see how Akiyama kicks Leben´s ass...
never count Chris Leben out,cause when you do thats when you need to duck!!!!
Too bad.... Wandi was definitely a high point of this card.
Hell ya go Leben ! ! ! ! Nobody takes a better punch in the UFC
Chris has a iron chin ! and the big left hook !
feel sorry for Wand, he is all class
Oh god damit not this!!! thats it I going to cry!