Anderson Silva: Cracked Rib, Out til March 2011. Possible # 1 contender match ups.

Anderson Silva

At the UFC 117 post fight press conference, Anderson Silva had mentioned how he had injured his ribs whilst grappling with Japanese Olympic Judo Gold Medallist Ishii. It has now been confirmed by several sources that Anderson has a cracked rib and will be unavailable until at least February or March 2011.

Ramon Lemos confirmed with Tatame.com that Anderson had not broken his rib but it was cracked. Here are his comments which have been kindly translated from Portugese:

“After the first round he said he broke his ribs. He said told me he could not breath because of the rib. I told him to forget the rib and work the movement of legs and he would get the triangle… After the fight he went to the hospital and did an x-ray and the doctor said he did not break it, it was just a crack.

Anderson is expected to return in February or March. We have not talked, but he has to take care of injuries, he fought twice last year and had an operation on his elbow. This year he made two more fights and now with this rib injury… He is no longer a boy, he is 34 years old.” Tatame.com

Bearing this in mind, we have looked at a couple of  possible match ups available to Joe Silva and the UFC in the mean time:

Vitor Belfort vs Chael Sonnen This would prove to be an interesting match up with Vitor more than likely going into the fight as an underdog after the performance Chael put in at UFC 117. However no one can deny the One-punch KO power of Vitor. Chael would also be able to gain revenge as Vitor Knocked Out Chael’s head coach Matt Lindland in spectacular fashion at Affliction-‘Day of Reckoning’ in 37 seconds. Chael put on a hell of a performance on Saturday night and although he lost, he showed exactly what he brings to the table.

Nate Marquadt/Rousimar Palhares vs Yushin Okami With Nate and Rousimar rescheduled to face of at UFC Fight Night on Wednesday September 15. The winner being thrown right into the mix of Middleweight contenders. Dana White has stated that Yushin is about ready for a title shot. Anderson would be keen for a fight with Yushin considering Yushin Okami is the last person to defeat Anderson way back in 2006. Although the fight was lost by a disqualification, it is still counted as a loss and Yushin still has the claim to being the last man to defeat Anderson. Yushin is coming of a decision victory over Andersons fellow Blackhouse team mate Mark Munoz.

Other notable Match ups that could be made:

Bisping/Akiyama vs Leben

Wanderlei vs Leben

By Ron Santos @MMAFriedRice.com