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Report: Chael Sonnen Will Not Face Anderson Silva at UFC 112

By Mike Chiappetta - Senior Writer

Feb 12, 2010 - The search for an opponent for Anderson Silva continues, as Chael Sonnen is crossed off the list.

Yahoo Sports spoke to the surging middleweight Friday and he told them he would not be offered a chance to replace the injured Vitor Belfort and face Silva at UFC 112.

UFC President Dana White told MMA Fighting early Friday morning that Silva would still fight at the event, scheduled for April 10 in Abu Dhabi, and that he would fight at middleweight, indicating a title defense.

Sonnen was medically suspended following his UFC 109 win last weekend for multiple lacerations, and though he could be cleared in time to fight, it would leave him little time to prepare for the biggest fight of his career.

With top contenders Belfort and Sonnen both unavailable, the UFC has few options at 185. They could roll the dice and hope that the winner of next week's UFC 110 middleweight tilt between Michael Bisping and Wanderlei Silva impresses and emerges unscathed, but that would require everything to go right and would leave little time for a backup plan.

In addition, Wanderlei Silva and Anderson Silva recently settled their brief feud and plan to train together in Australia, making it possible that they would resist matching up against each other.

Other top ranked UFC middleweights like Nate Marquardt and Yushin Okami are coming off losses. That leaves Demian Maia, Yoshihiro Akiyama and Bisping as possibilities.

Another possibility is that White changes his mind and has Silva fight at 205, or just scraps him off the card, giving Sonnen or Belfort a chance to recover from their injuries and have a full camp.

Read More: andersonsilva, chaelsonnen, demianmaia, michaelbisping, natemarquardt, ufc 112, ufc112, vitorbelfort, wanderleisilva, yoshihiroakiyama, yushinokami, news, Anderson Silva (MMA), Chael Sonnen (MMA), Demian Maia (MMA), Michael Bisping (MMA), Nate Marquardt (MMA), Vitor Belfort (MMA), Wanderlei Silva (MMA), Yoshihiro Akiyama (MMA), Yushin Okami (MMA)

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