Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva expected to return by April 2010

Published on: 2nd November, 2009

Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva expected to return by April 2010  | read this item

This past weekend we got a lot of bad news for fans hoping to see Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida return for UFC 108 in January 2, 2010. We were informed that Lyoto Machida would not be able to return due to a hand injury that required the light heavyweight champion to get surgery after injuries he suffered during his title defense against Mauricio Shogun Rua at UFC 104. Then later the same day we were informed that Anderson Silva’s elbow surgery required more time to heal before he could defend his title against Vitor Belfort.

Now Silva and Machida’s manager Ed Soares tells MMAWeekly.com we should expect to see both champions return by April of 2010. Soares gave a vague return date for Silva of “by the end of the First quarter of 2010″, which could be any where from January to April.

Soares also said that he expects Anderson Silva to defend his title against number one contender Vitor Belfort upon his return.

“He’s a guy who is coming off of wins and if that’s who they want to put in front of us, put him in front of us. We want to fight the best and if that’s who they think the best is, then great,” Soares stated. “We do think it’s going to be a good fight. Vitor is a dangerous guy.”

Soares also stated that he expects Machida to return to the Octagon in April of 2010 and it is no secret he will face off against Mauricio Shogun Rua again.

“I think (UFC president Dana White) has already approved it. Shogun wants it. We definitely want it,” Soares stated of the rematch.“Lyoto won that fight fair and square. Shogun came in with a great game plan, fought a very, very good fight, but Lyoto won that fight. But we want to go back in there and make sure there is no doubt who the light heavyweight champion is. We accept the rematch with a smile on our face.”

While this seems like a big deal that we will not see Anderson and Lyoto Machida come back in early 2010, it looks like so far Brock Lesnar vs Shane Carwin will happen at UFC 108.

At first we heard that Lesnar told Dana White that he may not be ready for January 2, but so far we have not heard any other indication that the heavyweight champion will not be able to make the date. Hopefully this means we are in the clear and will have a title bout for the card when it is all said and done.

 Alberto Martinez "The Narcisist" is the founding owner of URDirt.com. If you would like to post on the front page or in our New "Fan Jab" section all you need to do is register. Read more from this author

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