Vitor Belfort

By FCF Staff

UFC President Dana White confirmed after UFC 146 Saturday that middleweight Vitor Belfort broke his hand while preparing for his upcoming, June 23rd bout with Wanderlei Silva, and has been pulled from the card.

According to a post on UFC.com, Silva will still compete, however, an opponent has yet to be determined.

Belfort (21-9) and Silva (34-11), who have been coaching opposite one another in “The Ultimate Fighter Brazil” program, fought for the first time in 1998. Belfort stopped the former Pride champion in 44 seconds.

The 35 year-old Belfort is coming off back-to-back wins over Yoshihiro Akiyama and Anthony Johnson.

Silva, who is also 35, competed last in November and stopped Cung Le at UFC 139. Prior to that he was knocked out by Chris Leben at UFC 132 last July.

UFC 147 will be hosted by the Mineirinho stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.