Well this one came out of nowhere. Vitor Belfort announced on his website tonight that he’ll return to the Octagon in November at UFC 139 in San Jose, California against former Strikeforce star, Cung Le, on Le’s home turf:
After Belfort’s last explosive win in UFC 133 against Yoshihiro Akiyama, UFC is quickly putting him back in the ring and this time against martial arts master Cung Le for UFC 139 on November 19th in San Jose, California.
Le has been angling to get on the San Jose card, as he has proven to be one of the biggest draws in that area for Strikeforce in the past, but it hadn’t yet been confirmed that the dynamic san shou fighter had signed with the UFC. Now that he is apparently an official member of the UFC’s middleweight division, he’ll certainly have his work cut out for him against another explosive striker in Belfort, even with the hometown advantage.
Vitor Belfort (20-9)
Win Yoshihiro Akiyama (KO – punches) – UFC 133
Loss Anderson Silva (KO – front kick) – UFC 126
Win Rich Franklin (TKO – punches) – UFC 103
Cung Le (7-1)
Win Scott Smith (KO – spinning back kick) – Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum
Loss Scott Smith (KO – punches) – Strikeforce: Evolution
Win Frank Shamrock (TKO – corner stoppage) – Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le