Vitor Belfort has been forced out of the UFC 122 main event against Yushin Okami with an undisclosed injury, but fellow middleweight contender Nate Marquardt has agreed to step in and face Okami at the Nov. 13 event in Oberhausen, Germany, MMA Weekly reports.
The injury is the latest setback for the former champ Belfort (19-8), who returned to the UFC last September with a first-round knockout of Rich Franklin before missing out on several shots at champion Anderson Silva.
Marquardt (30-9-2) is just one-week removed from a first-round TKO of Rousimar Palhares at UFC Fight Night 22 to rebound from a February loss to Chael Sonnen, while Okami (25-5) edged Mark Munoz last month to improve to 5-1 in his last 6 fights.
On Monday, the UFC promised the next middleweight title shot to the winner of Belfort vs. Okami, and the winner of Marquardt vs. Okami is still expected to challenge Silva early next year with Sonnen sidelined by a failed drug test.
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