Wanderlei Silva Scratched From UFC 175 Q&A, Replaced by Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua
The MMA world has once again been thrown in to turmoil over the subject of drug testing, the alleged culprit in this case is former Pride FC champion and UFC favourite Wanderlei Silva. ‘The Axe Murderer’ was recently yanked from his UFC 175 duties against Chael Sonnen, and the word on the grapevine is that Wandy has been ducking a drug test.
Having coached opposite Uncle Chael on the recent series of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3, it seemed that Silva would finally get his chance to settle the score with Sonnen. Chael P had said all along that Silva would pull from the fight, but I can’t say that I ever expected it to actually happen. To the news part; Silva has been removed by his employers from the TUF: Brazil 3 weigh-ins Q&A, and has been replaced by Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.
Clearly ‘The Axe Murderer’ has got on the wrong side of the UFC brass with these shenanigans, but he has also left the UFC in a state I’d like to call ‘Bizarro world’. You see, with Vitor Belfort stepping in as replacement for Silva, a win for Sonnen could well lead him to a title shot at middleweight. I know the consensus opinion is that ‘The Phenom’ will crush ‘The American Gangster’, but that really doesn’t mean a damn thing.
Anything can happen in MMA, and by Silva backing out of UFC 175, he has opened the door to a strange world, a world where Sonnen is a middleweight champion. If, by some god forsaken miracle, Sonnen beats Belfort and gets a title shot….well, ‘The Axe Murderer’ may have paved the way for Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen III further down the line.
What I’m saying is that a win over Silva would have meant, well, probably not a great deal for Sonnen. A win over the top contender at middleweight (even though they are fighting a 205) would put the biggest trash talking troll in MMA right back in line for a title fight. Another point worth considering is the long term implications on Silva’s career.
In a world of clean-cut athletes, it would seem hard to sell Silva as your marquee legend should this all turn out to be as seedy as it seems. I’m still hoping that there is some explanation for all this mess, but my gut tells me that Sonnen is right (*I puked in my mouth). I’ll hold fire until Silva speaks out, but I’m sure of one thing; Belfort must beat Sonnen at UFC 175, for the good of mankind.
