UFC president Dana White confirmed after UFC 139 that shoulder trouble will likely keep UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva out of action until June of 2012. His future opponent, Chael Sonnen, has expressed interest in taking another fight before the June rematch. MMAWeekly reports that Sonnen is a likely candidate to end up on UFC on Fox 2 in January.
Silva has been suffering from shoulder bursitis since before his UFC 134 victory over Yushin Okami. Silva has delayed treatment on the shoulder in order to help friends Wanderlei Silva and Lyoto Machida prepare for their respective bouts against Cung Le and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. The Silva vs. Sonnen rematch is expected to headline the UFC’s June 2012 return to Sao Paulo, Brazil after a nearly 14-year hiatus.
In the mean time, no possible opponents were named for Sonnen but it does appear likely he will fight between now and his probably June 2012 rematch with Silva.
