As UFC president Dana White likes to say, "Bad [expletive] happens everyday."
On Saturday, White initially thought that would be the arrest of octagon girl Arianny Celeste, who was taken into custody Saturday morning by Las Vegas police.
Then the phone rang again, and White found out Vitor Belfort (21-9 MMA, 10-5 UFC) was out of the main event of June's UFC 147 event.
"I wake up this morning, and Vitor Belfort breaks his hand, and he's in [expletive] surgery," White said. "It never ends for me. Every day we get up, and bad [expletive] happens. And guess what? I can guarantee you that when I wake up tomorrow, something else is going to happen."
UFC 147 takes place June 23 at the 25,000-seat indoor arena "Mineirinho" (Estadio Jornalista Felipe Drumond) in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Belfort was slated to meet fellow "The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil" coach Wanderlei Silva (34-11-1 MMA, 4-6 UFC) in UFC 147's pay-per-view headliner.
Tickets for the event went on sale this week, and White reported 13,000 seats were sold on the first day. Now he and UFC brass will scramble for a replacement. The UFC president said he has at least one candidate in mind but declined to name the potential replacement until a deal is done.
"I'm working on it," White said. "Wanderlei will fight."
White said he was uncertain how Belfort's surgery unfolded but assumed there were no issues since he hadn't received any updates. A timetable for Belfort's return has yet to be determined.
UFC officials initially announced UFC 147 at Joao Havelange Stadium (also known as Engenhao Stadium) in Rio de Janeiro. However, conflicts with the United Nations' "Rio +20" meeting, which is scheduled for June 20-22 in Rio, prompted changes. When the event was moved to Belo Horizonte, the event also lost a planned headliner between UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen.
That fight now takes place in July at UFC 148 in Las Vegas.
Source: Vitor Belfort pulled from UFC 147 main event, undergoes surgery for broken hand
