—

Randy Couture:

—

Mark Coleman:

—

Chael Sonnen:

—

Nate Marquardt:

—

Mike Swick:

—

Matt Serra:

—

Phil Davis:

It now appears that the UFC may be looking to change there plans altogether however, with Fighters Only claiming that Nate Marquardt could now be called on to replace Anderson Silva, allowing for a battle to establish who is the genuine No.1 contender in the middleweight division.

It is a match-up that would appear to suit all the fighters concerned.  Nate Marquardt in particular has been disappointed to have been overlooked as the next title contender, and will likely relish the chance to prove his worth against Belfort.  Meanwhile Belfort himself has went on record recently as being in no hurry to face Anderson Silva, preferring to get more fights under his belt first.

For Anderson Silva it affords him more time to recover from his injury, and, rather conveniently, it forces the UFC to put together a match-up that he and his manager Ed Soares, have been calling for since his title bout with Belfort was first announced.

The only party that is likely to feel hard done to here is the UFC.  They have been hit hard by injuries and illness lately, and will be frustrated that one of the their key fighters return to action will now be delayed.

Meanwhile a fight between Nate Marquardt (29-8-2) and Chael Sonnen (24-10-1) which was originally predicted to be on the UFC 110 card has apparently been switched to UFC 109 according to mmajunkie.

The card is beginning to take shape after it was announced earlier this week that Randy Couture (17-10) would square off against Mark Coleman (16-9).

After knocking out the highly touted submission specialist Demian Maia in just 21 seconds in his last visit to the octagon, Nate Marquardt may have reason to feel that he has earned a title shot.

It appears that the UFC have other ideas, and are instead lining up Chael Sonnen as his next opponent.

Sonnen also impressed in his last outing at UFC 104 where he showed well rounded skills against Yushin Okami en-route to a unanimous decision victory.  Okami had been defeated only once in his previous eight UFC appearances.

According to sportnet.ca both fighters have been sent the bout agreement which is being lined up for the UFC’s first event in Australia at UFC 110.

Already confirmed for that card is Wanderlei Silva Vs Yoshihiro Akiyama, as well as rumored match-ups such as Mirko Cro Cop Vs Ben Rothwell and Stephan Bonnar Vs Krzysztof Soszynski.

Now in an ironic twist to the story the man who the UFC have apparently chosen to get the title shot – Vitor Belfort, has admitted to mma.fanhouse.com reporter Ariel Helwani (does this man ever sleep?) that he wasn’t aiming to fight Anderson Silva yet.

“I didn’t look for the fight. Actually, I would like to have (a) couple of more fights (first).”

Belfort also reveals who he thinks should be getting the title shot in his place.

“Nate Marquardt deserves the fight, he deserves the shot.”

The comments are likely to raise a few eyebrows reading between the lines they seem to suggest that Belfort may has doubts over his ability to defeat one of the sports pound for pound greats at this stage in his career.

With Anderson Silva having recently expressed his belief that Belfort hasn’t yet earned a title shot, this latest news also puts the UFC in the curious position of looking to promote a title bout that neither fighter appears particularly interested in.

Watch the full interview below: