Alan Belcher Out with Spinal Fracture; Phil Davis vs. Wagner Prado Added to UFC 153

With Vitor Belfort whisked away from his UFC 153 bout, everyone was waiting to see who the UFC would line up for his former opponent, Alan Belcher.

Less than 24 hours after Belfort accepted a fight with light heavyweight champion Jon Jones for the UFC 152 event in Toronto, Belcher is also off the card, revealing on Friday that he is injured.

“Everyone’s asking if I am mad at @ufc @JonnyBones @vitorbelfort answer is no,” tweeted Belcher. “this is a blessing in disguise. I have a spinal fracture.”

Although that sounds severe, Belcher doesn’t intend to be on the sidelines for long, indicating that he plans to return in November. He’s even got a target in mind for after he heals up.

“With that being said and with much respect I’d like @ChrisWeidmanUFC or another top 5 on my return in November. Thx for all the support.”

UFC officials will assuredly wait for him to heal up before granting him an opponent, but they’ve already filled the slot the Belfort and Belcher vacated on the UFC 153 fight card slated for Oct. 13 in Rio de Janeiro.

Phil Davis and Wagner Prado’s fight at UFC on Fox 4, earlier in August, was ruled a dissatisfying “no contest” when Prado could not continue due to an accidental eye poke from Davis.

Davis and Prado will meet again, this time on the UFC 153 main card on pay-per-view, hoping to declare a winner.

UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo puts his belt on the line against Erik Koch in the UFC 153 main event.

Stay tuned to MMAWeekly.com for more UFC 153 news as it develops.