MMA Quick Hits 9/23/10: Hughes talks B. J. Penn, Chael Sonnen backs out

1. Vitor Belfort vs. Anderson Silva: After Belfrot injury rumors were shot down by Dana White, many expected that Belfort was pulled to fight Silva for the middleweight belt. It turns out, that is exactly the case. White tweeted, “Vitor is not injured. He is going to fight Anderson for the title and the winner of Marquart and Okami are next.” Called it. Yea, I’m sure a lot of people called it too, but I called it. And even though Belfort hasn’t won a fight at 185 in the UFC, I’d still rather see this fight instead of Silva/Sonnen 2. So thank you Sonnen for being stupid.

2. Scott Smith dropping down: According to a report from MMAJunkie.com, longtime middleweight Scott Smith is headed to Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu, where he will make the drop to the welterweight division and face off against Jesse Finney. The event takes place on December 4. Really? I don’t know about this move. I’m getting visions of a emaciated James Irvin. Smith is a pretty good sized Middleweight. Losing 15 more pounds might look ghastly.

3. Hughes’ reason to fight Penn again: Matt Hughes talked to TheSpec.com about why he took the fight with Penn. “We’re all creatures of habit and I’m used to just kind of doing whatever the UFC says and I’m happy with that. Dana surely knew that I wanted to take the fall off, but he called. And he asked. He said ‘Hey, will you take the fight?’ He didn’t say ‘Hey, do you want the fight,’ he said ‘Will you?’ So I said yes. UFC’s been very good to me and I want to be the same person back to them…” I don’t get the time off. I know Hughes has given up a lot for the UFC, but they have given him a lot too. I’m glad to see that he took the fight. Hughes can rest when he retires, which won’t be long from now.

4. L. C. Davis returns at WEC 52: Another featherweight bout has been added to WEC 52. According to a report from MMAJunkie.com, L. C. Davis will meet Raphael Assuncao at the November 11 event. WEC 52 airs live on Versus and takes place at The Pearl at the Palms Casino and Resort in Las Vegas, headlined by a bantamweight bout between Urijah Faber and Takeya Mizugaki. WEC 51 and 52 just keep getting better and better. This fight should be electric and I can’t wait to see it. Not to mention the main event.

5. Sonnen backs out of interview: It appears Chael Sonnen has backed out of his MMA Live appearance on ESPN2 tonight, as the host of the show, Jon Anik, announced that he’ll no longer appear on the show tonight a 1AM ET. Sonnen was originally scheduled to appear on the show, but now SI.com’s Josh Gross will take the place of Sonnen speaking on the matter. He must have been advised by his lawyers not to appear because I’ve never seen a mic that Sonnen hasn’t liked. You can catch MMA Live on ESPN2 late night, or every Friday right here at SportsNickel.com.