Wanderlei exits, Leben enters UFC 116

June 22San Jose MMA ExaminerPhil Lanides

Wanderlei Silva’s return to the Octagon will have to wait a little longer. Scheduled to face Yoshihiro Akiyama in the co-main event of UFC 116 next week, Silva has had to pull out of the fight due to cracked ribs, according to UFC president Dana White. A quick search was conducted, and a replacement has been found. Chris Leben, fresh off a TKO victory over Aaron Simpson at The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 Finale this past weekend, will step into Silva’s place and face Akiyama.

Though it will be a very quick layoff for Leben, he stands to gain a tremendous amount from taking on this opportunity. Along with the additional exposure, Leben stands to garner additional sponsorship opportunities afforded by getting a co-main event slot on a card featuring Lesnar.

Silva was coming off a big victory over Michael Bisping at UFC 110. Leben, for his part, moved his record to 4-2 in his last six fights, with three KO victories in that span. Akiyama is also coming off a victory, a close split-decision win over Alan Belcher at UFC 100 in July of last year.

“I was really looking forward to seeing Wanderlei fight,” stated Bay Area fight fan Eric Velez. “But Leben is on a hot streak, and he’s apt to give us a very entertaining bout. I’m satisfied with the switch.”

Leben-Akiyama will be the co-headliner at UFC 116. Headlined by a heavyweight title unification bout between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin, the event will take place live at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on July 3rd. Here is the full fight card:

MAIN CARD
• UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Shane Carwin (heavyweight title-unification but)
• Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Chris Leben
• Matt Brown vs. Chris Lytle
• Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
• Kurt Pellegrino vs. George Sotiropoulos

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)
• Brendan Schaub vs. Chris Tuchscherer
• Kendall Grove vs. Goran Reljic

PRELIMINARY CARD (Un-aired)
• Seth Petruzelli vs. Ricardo Romero
• Dave Branch vs. Gerald Harris
• Forrest Petz vs. Daniel Roberts
• Jon Madsen vs. Karlos Vemola