Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio informed MMAWeekly.com on Thursday that former UFC light heavyweight champion and current middleweight competitor Vitor Belfort has pulled out of his previously scheduled Oct. 11 bout against Matt Lindland due to a hand injury.

Belfort is the second top fighter to pull off of “Day of Reckoning” due to a hand injury, as WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko was unable to move forward on a possible title defense against Andrei Arlovski due to a lingering hand injury of his own.

As of now, Lindland is still believed to be on the card but without an opponent. There has been some speculation that EliteXC welterweight champion Jake Shields has been offered an opportunity to fight Lindland on the show. While Atencio expressed to MMA Weekly that Affliction has admiration for his ability, he was quick to point out that Shields is currently under contract to another organization.

It should be note that Affliction did pursue one other fighter under contract to EliteXC. Sources informed FiveOuncesOfPain.com earlier this week that Affliction officials had been interested in putting together a featherweight bout at “Day of Reckoning” between Mark Hominick and Bao Quach.

It was determined that Quach’s limited non-exclusive would prevent him from competing on the Affliction show and a 140 lbs. title match between him and Wilson Reis on Sept. 20 was finalized on Thursday.

“Day of Reckoning” is scheduled to be headlined by a battle of former UFC heavyweight champions Arlovski and Josh Barnett fighting for a title shot against Emelianenko. Heavyweight bouts between Ben Rothwell vs. Pedro Rizzo and Paul Buentello vs. Roy Nelson are expected as well a light heavyweight contest between Vladimir Matyushenko and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

If a bout between Matt Lindland and Vitor Belfort is signed for Affliction’s second-ever show on Oct. 11 and it’s for a title, it won’t be for the yet-to-be institute WAMMA middleweight title belt.

After reading a report on FiveOuncesOfPain.com that cited a Belfort interview with the Brazilian website Tatame.com that quoted Belfort as saying the matchup would be for a belt, WAMMA CEO Mike Lynch contacted us to issue a statement. While WAMMA believes that the potential matchup is intriguing, it doesn’t consider it one worthy of determining an undisputed champion at 185 lbs.

“There has been a lot of speculation that an upcoming proposed match-up between Matt Lindland and Vitor Belfort will be for a WAMMA title,” said Lynch in an e-mail to Five Ounces of Pain. “To be sure, Matt and Vitor are two of the very best fighters in MMA today. Lindland is currently ranked seven in our middleweight rankings and Belfort is a former UFC champion who is bound to excite fans everywhere with his explosive style. If this fight happens, it would be an incredible match up. It certainly rises to the level of a must-see fight and would be the highlight of any fight card.

“With that being said, any fight between Lindland and Belfort at this time would not be for a WAMMA title. WAMMA’s goal is to crown undisputed champions based on our objective rankings. Based on our rankings, we could not sanction a Lindland vs. Belfort fight as a WAMMA championship. However, the winner of the match-up would certainly cement his place as part of the fighter elite and would be a likely contender for a WAMMA championship in the future.”

In a recent interview with the Brazilian website Tatame, former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort is quoted as saying he will compete again for the Affliction promotion on Oct. 11 in Las Vegas at the Thomas & Mack Center.

According to Belfort, he will be fighting former U.S. Olympic silver medalist Matt Lindland and that the fight will be for “the belt.”

It’s uncertain at this time what belt Belfort is referring to. Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio has been publicly bearish while speaking in the past about instituting Affliction-brand titles. However, the promotion did host the WAMMA heavyweight title during the main event of its July 19 show with Fedor Emelianenko procuring the belt following a first round submission over Tim Sylvia.

It’s possible that the title Belfort is referring to is a yet-to-be instituted Affliction middleweight title. FiveOuncesOfPain.com contacted WAMMA CEO Mike Lynch for comment via phone and e-mail but our requests have gone unanswered.

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Just today CBS released the official lineup for the televised card and already there’s been a change. According to ProElite.com, Murilo “Ninja” Rua has been replaced by Joey Villasenor in a middleweight bout against Phil Baroni at CBS Saturday Night Fights on May 31st.

Villasenor is coming off of a knockout victory over Ryan Jensen at at the end of last month. No reason was given for Rua’s exit from the card.

This should be a better matchup for Baroni because Villasenor likes to throw caution to the wind and brawl. Rua’s jiu jitsu could have proved to be a problem for Baroni if the fight hit the ground and this matchup is much better for him style-wise.

As for the card itself, if you’re expecting to see much ground action it looks like you might be mistaken. The card is stacked with strikers which is probably a good thing for the first CBS event.

Check out more CBS Saturday Night Fights coverage on FiveOuncesOfPain.com!

Ryan Jensen has been selected as a replacement for Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos at this weekend’s Shamrock vs. Cung Le card according to MMA Junkie. Santos was unable to obtain a visa in time to fight and EliteXC and Strikeforce were left scrambling for an opponent for Joey Villasenor.

Jensen is a former UFC fighter, coming off two losses to grappling wizards Thales Leites and Demian Maia respectively but he’s 11-3 overall. He’s about as good a middleweight replacement as you can get on this short notice, so props to Strikeforce and EliteXC for finding an apt replacement in very little time.

A middleweight bout between Strikeforce fighter Joe Riggs and EliteXC fighter Joey Villasenor to take place on March 29 during a show to be co-promoted by both promotions in San Jose could be finalized in the next several days, according to website MMAjunkie.com.

Junkie reports that it was alerted to the possible matchup by Villasenor’s camp. Neither Strikeforce or EliteXC have confirmed the bout.

The card is set to be headlined by Frank Shamrock defending his Strikeforce middleweight title against Cung Le.

Villasenor, 24-6, has not fought since defeating Riki Fukuda at EliteXC’s “Uprising” event that took place this past September. Prior to that bout, he lost Murilo “Ninja” Rua in a fight to determined the first-ever EliteXC middleweight champion during Strikeforce and EliteXC’s last combined show in June. He is currently slated to compete for the King of the Cage promotion prior to the 3/29 date.

Riggs had been scheduled for last week’s ill-fated WCO show in San Diego, Calif. However, reports indicated that Riggs was involved in a car accident several days prior to the show and injured his ribs. Junkie reports that the injury is not expected to prevent him from fighting in March.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REMAINDER OF THIS ARTICLE ON SAM CAPLAN’S PROELITE.COM BLOG

Follow the link for an update on this Friday’s co-promoted card by EliteXC and Strikeforce:

http://cbs.sportsline.com/mmaboxing/story/10232110

The California State Athletic Commission has cleared both Phil Baroni and Murilo Rua for this Friday’s pay-per-view card from San Jose, Calif. that is being co-promoted by EliteXC and Strikeforce.

Rua will fight Joey Villasenor for the vacant EliteXC middleweight title while Baroni will take on Frank Shamrock for the vacant Strikeforce middleweight title.

According to the Wrestling Observer, Murilo “Ninja” Rua has passed an examination that was administered by a neurosurgeon at UCLA.

Rua had been scheduled to fight Joey Villasenor for the vacant EliteXC middleweight title on the undercard of Friday’s Frank Shamrock vs. Phil Baroni main event. However, the match was canceled after Rua was unable to get approved for a license in California last week.

Despite being cleared by the UCLA neurosurgeon, it’s unlikely that he’ll still get a ruling on any kind of appeal to CSAC in time for Friday’s card.

Murilo “Ninja” Rua (the older brother of Shogun) failed his physical that was administered by the California State Athletic Commission and has not been licensed to fight Joey Villasenor for the vacant EliteXC middleweight title at next Friday’s co-promote show between EliteXC and Strikeforce. EliteXC is working on signing a replacement.