Belfort earned his title shot with a knockout of former middleweight champion Rich Franklin in a September catch weight bout, which also marked his return to the promotion.

Silva last defended his middleweight belt against Thales Leites at UFC 97 last April. His last fight, however, was an August first round destruction of Forrest Griffin in a light heavyweight bout.

Pictured: Vitor Belfort

While heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and challenger Shane Carwin are expected to be recovered from their recent bouts with the flu to headline UFC 108 on January 2, Silva’s title defense against Vitor Belfort that had been scheduled for the card is in doubt as Silva continues to recover from recent elbow surgery.

St-Pierre, who’s been sidelined since a July title defense over Thiago Alves, was expected to headline a February UFC card, likely UFC 109 on February 6, but may be unable to return to the Octagon until March, according to Yahoo! Sports, though the Silva-Belfort matchup could be tapped to fill the main event.

An opponent has not yet been determined for St-Pierre’s next fight, though the winner of a UFC 105 matchup between Mike Swick and Dan Hardy is the likely front-runner.

For the latest UFC news and UFC rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com

“I believe Anderson would destroy Belfort.I think it’s a very interesting fight. Belfort has good boxing skills and is a good athlete, but everybody knows that he has a weak psychological aspect and I think he will shake when he gets in the Octagon with (Silva).

Of course [Belfort and I] will fight. I want this fight too much. I believe the first one didn’t happen as I wanted. I was surprised, and it will not happen again now because I’m much more experienced. I’m not saying it will be now or later, but when it happens, I’ll prepare myself a lot to be in my best shape because he is a tough opponent, and I want to give the show everybody expects from me.

[Anderson Silva and I] talked. It was a big misunderstanding and it was solved the way men have to solve any problem: talking face to face. Anderson is a great guy, and we finally put a period on that story.”

Wanderlei Silva talks to Sherdog about the January 2 matchup between middleweight champ Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort at UFC 108, a likely future rematch with Belfort, and mending his relationship with Silva.

Silva (25-4) has gone undefeated since early-2006, winning a record 10-straight UFC fights over the likes of Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, and Nate Marquardt. “The Spider,” who recently underwent surgery on his elbow, returns to 185-pounds to take on Belfort after moving up to light heavyweight in August, where he recorded a first-round knockout of Forrest Griffin.

Belfort (19-8), the UFC 12 heavyweight tournament winner and former light heavyweight champion, returned to the UFC earlier this month with a first-round knockout of Rich Franklin at UFC 103. “The Phenom” has now won five-straight, including previous back-to-back knockouts of Terry Martin and Matt Lindland in Affliction.

UFC 108, the UFC’s traditional year-end show which airs live on pay-per-view, is also expected to include a matchup between former light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva.

For the latest UFC 108 news and UFC 108 rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Ratings for the second episode of The Ultimate Fighter 10 dropped 29 percent to 2.9 million from the series record 4.1 million who tuned in for the TUF 10 debut. [Spike TV]

Pictured: Anderson Silva

Details on the injury have not been released, though it is not believed to have occurred in his August 8 first-round knockout of Forrest Griffin and is suspected to be lingering injury he has finally chosen to repair while he’s taking a break from fighting.

With Silva now sidelined until sometime next year, it makes more sense than ever to have middleweight contenders Nate Marquardt and Dan Henderson fight in the interim.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for updates on Silva’s surgery and return, as well as the likely matchup between Marquardt and Henderson.

“I think the fight that should happen is Nate Marquardt against Dan Henderson for the number one title contender,” said Silva’s manager Ed Soares recently told MMA Weekly. “He’ll take a rest… he’s fought twice this year,” he said. “He’s got three fights left on his contract. He wants to work out a little kinks and bruises that he’s got. He wants to take a little break.”

Henderson, meanwhile, isn’t open to fighting Marquardt, a matchup that could headline UFC 105 in Manchester, England, and could instead return to light heavyweight for his next fight, he recently told SI.com:

“I think I’m the one guy that poses enough dangers [to Silva] style-wise,” he said. “If I were his manager, I’d be trying not to have him fight me as well. I know that Anderson Silva is really trying not to fight me. It’s obvious.”

Henderson said if the UFC came to him with a bout against Marquardt, he would turn it down and seek challenges at light heavyweight.

“I think he’s right in line for a title shot as well, but I feel I’ve earned that already,” Henderson said. “That’s a fight that more than likely will happen in the future, but I think right now, from the UFC’s standpoint, they shouldn’t be having me and Nate fight each other. They’re going to get stuck without any new opponents for Anderson Silva.

“Silva is the only fight that interests me at 185. I said that before Nate’s fight.”

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest UFC news and UFC rumors.

Spike TV announced on Friday that it will air Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller and Drew McFedries vs. Tomasz Drwal from the UFC 103 undercard during a live, one-hour, commercial-free broadcast beginning at 9pm ET on September 19 leading up to the UFC 103 pay-per-view.

Pictured: Anderson Silva

Dan Cramer has been released by the UFC following a Saturday loss to Matthew Riddle at UFC 101. The UFC.com profiles for Cramer, Thales Leites, George Roop and Danillo Villefort, have all been taken down, fueling speculation that Leites, Roop, and Villefort may have also been cut following their UFC 101 fights.

Pictured: Anderson Silva

First reported by Dana White at Friday’s UFC 101 Q&A session, and officially announced Monday by Spike TV, The Best of Pride Fighting Championships series starts January 11, 2010 at 11pm on Spike. The show will be a weekly one hour series following a similar format to that of the UFC Unleashed, and will be hosted by former Maxim Magazine “Hometown Hotties” finalist Kenda Perez.

The television series will make use of the extensive library of Pride video footage that Zuffa, LLC (parent company of the UFC) purchased when it purchased the promotion back in 2007. It is expected to include footage of many of the former Pride stars that now compete inside the UFC Octagon, including Dan Henderson, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Anderson Silva, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filopovic, and Wanderlei Silva. Spike has also claimed that they will include Fedor Emelianenko in some of the broadcasts, despite his notable absence from the UFC.

This move by Zuffa was foreshadowed by Owner Lorenzo Fertitta sporting a Pride T-shirt at and around UFC 100 in early July. Since that sighting of Fertitta in the Pride paraphernalia, an official Pride store has been added to the official UFC store on the promotion’s website, and can also be reached by visiting www.pridefcstore.com. The store includes shirts, shorts, hats, and a DVD.

Perhaps Fertitta’s shirt, and the creation of the Pride store were just done in anticipation of the upcoming creation of the The Best of Pride Fighting Championships television series, or maybe all three are foreshadowing another future move by Zuffa, LLC involving the Pride banner. This author believes there may be something bigger brewing with the Pride name, but then I could be completely off base. Only time will tell if I’m right about that, but at least we get to re-watch some great fights.