Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva were scheduled to finally meet each other at UFC 175 on July 5th in Las Vegas, but Wanderlei Silva is out of the fight due to licensing issues in Nevada and Sonnen will now face Vitor Belfort.
The fight between Sonnen and Belfort will be a light heavyweight bout (205 lbs) and the winner of the fight will secure a title shot in the UFC middleweight division (185 lbs).
The fight change was made official by the UFC on early Wednesday evening and the organization released a statement on the situation.
“Due to issues related to Wanderlei Silva’s licensing in the state of Nevada, the UFC was forced to seek a replacement opponent to face Chael Sonnen at UFC 175 on Saturday, July 5 in Las Vegas,” the UFC statement said. “Former UFC champion Vitor Belfort has accepted the fight with Sonnen, subject to Belfort receiving a license to compete from the Nevada Athletic Commission.”
Belfort (24-10) has won three fights in a row and was initially scheduled to face UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, but he was pulled from the fight following the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) decision to ban testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). According to a report by Globo, Belfort has passed all of the necessary drug test from the NSAC.
At this time, Belfort does not have a license to fight in the state of Nevada and he will have to appear in front of the NSAC at the next meeting, which is scheduled for June 17th in Las Vegas. He has to appear since he is over 35 years old and he will certainly be questioned about his use of TRT and what his life is like without the treatment.
Sonnen (28-14-1) was granted a license for UFC 175 at the most recent NSAC meeting and he is a former TRT user. After being asked about no longer being on TRT, he was granted a license by the commission. He was randomly drug tested this past weekend during UFC 173 and the results of that drug test should be back shortly.
The current UFC 175: Weidman vs. Machida fight card is below.
Chris Weidman (11-0) vs. Lyoto Machida (21-4)
Ronda Rousey (9-0) vs. Alexis Davis (16-5)
Chael Sonnen (28-14-1) vs. Vitor Belfort (24-10)
Uriah Hall (8-4) vs. Thiago Santos (9-2)
Chris Camozzi (19-7) vs. Bruno Santos (13-1)
Santiago Ponzinibbio (18-2) vs. Ildemar Alcantara (20-6)
Stefan Struve (25-6) vs. Matt Mitrione (7-3)
Urijah Faber (30-7) vs. Alex Caceres (10-5, 1NC)