As we reported on Monday, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will return to Germany on Nov. 13 with UFC 122. However, there has been a significant change in the main event. Vitor Belfort, who was scheduled to fight Yushin Okami (25-5), has had to pull out due to injury and has been replaced by Nate Marquardt (30-9-2).
MMA Weekly reported the news late Tuesday evening. The specifics or seriousness of Belfort’s injuries were not known.
Marquardt is coming off an impressive first round TKO of Rousimar Palhares in the UFC Fight Night 22 main event on Sept. 15. His bout with Okami at UFC 122 in Oberhausen will mark his second straight main event appearance and an impressive win over Okami could put Marquardt in the immediate vicinity of a middleweight title shot.
Okami is coming off a split decision win over Mark Munoz at UFC Live 2 in August. It is interesting to note that both Okami and Marquardt’s last losses both came from Chael Sonnen.