And The Sweepstakes Winner is.........

("Do you really want to huuurt me, do you really wanna make me cry")

Damian Maia will step in to challenge Anderson Silva for the Middleweight title in Abu Dhabi in April the UFC announced yesterday. Maia, whom I thought was out of the running due to an eyelid laceration suffered against Dan Miller, will take the fight on two months notice to try to dethrone the 185lb kingpin. Maia has already stated that he would be lying if he said he was going to try to stand with Silva. The match-up is being billed as "MMA's Best Striker vs. MMA's Best Grappler" which is a billing that I can live with. With Vitor out for most of the year from his shoulder surgery we will have to wait a while to see him up against Silva or whomever is holding the title if he is to keep his spot in the 185lb pecking order. Chael Sonnen in the mean time looks to be the next up at bat for the belt after this contest is decided. Dana White had the following to say about the match-up of Brazilians:

“It’s always tough when a top fighter like Vitor Belfort has to pull out of a big title fight, but we have found a high quality replacement,” said UFC President Dana White. “Top contender Chael Sonnen was not available due to injuries sustained in his fight with Nate Marquardt, so top six middleweight Demian Maia will step in to fight for the title. Maia is an Abu Dhabi grappling champion, a five-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion, and he is 12-1 in MMA and coming off a win over DanMiller at UFC 109. Anderson Silva vs Demian Maia will be a matchup between MMA’s best striker and MMA’s best grappler.”