It was just a couple of months ago that the “Axe Murderer” nation was riddled with grief, upon hearing the news that not only was Wanderlei Silva no longer fighting Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116 in July, but that the former Pride champ was so banged up, he’d be out until 2011. It was a damn tough pill to swallow, considering that Silva was coming off a UD win over Michael Bisping in February, after losing back-to-bouts against Rich Frankin and “Rampage” Jackson.

Well, several weeks have blurred by (courtesy a heavy MMA schedule) and already people are looking towards what’s in store next for Wandy. At the UFC 118 festivities this past weekend, while reportedly still utilizing crutches, Silva informed MMA Fighting that he hopes to be back in stomping action by February or March. So who might be his opponent? While Silva talked about his wish to rematch Vitor Belfort, it’s looking like “The Phenom” will face Yushin Okami in November, and one would think the winner will get a title shot. Silva also conceded that he’d like to face Chris Leben, however, and had this to say about fighting the man who replaced him vs. Akiyama.

“He won’t pass the first two rounds with me,” Silva said. “I saw his fight with Akiyama. It was a great match, and he beat him in the final round. He’s a tough guy. He had only fought two weeks earlier. I think it will be perfect for my next fight.”

Huh. Clearly Wandy’s feeling pretty confident; that aside, here’s hoping this fight happens. Has FOTN written all over it.

You may recall last week hearing the sobs of Wanderlei Silva fans around the world, as word came down that “The Axe Murderer” would not fight at UFC 116, due to multiple injuries. It was a tough couple of days, no doubt, but we got through it… together. Now the man that Silva was supposed to fight, Yoshihiro Akiyama, was in fact truly devastated that he would not fight the former Pride champion this Saturday. When informed he would fight Chris Leben instead of Wandy, Akiyama’s reaction was rather similar to when we’re told last call is over- not good. The renowned judo competitor stated Leben wasn’t “a big name,” and that further, a no show for UFC 116 might just be in the cards (yeah- that would have gone over real well…) .

Of course, thankfully, Akiyama made the trip overseas and is set to fight Leben tomorrow night, and in the meantime, the Japanese middleweight has apparently been doing a little bit of damage control. Talking to MMA Junkie this week, Akiyama tried to clarify his recent comments, that probably didn’t score many points with Leben and his supporters.

“I’m very familiar with Chris’ popularity in the States, but compared to Wanderlei overseas, he’s a much bigger name in Korea and Japan,” Akiyama said through an interpreter. “For me, to improve the popularity of MMA in Japan is one of my goals as well.”

It also sounds like all is well between Dana White and Akiyama, as the UFC Prez was quoted saying “I understood,” in regards to “Sexyama’s” bitter disappointment that he’s no longer fighting Silva. Should be a good bout regardless. To bet on the tilt head here.

If you think you’re depressed about Wanderlei Silva dropping out of UFC 116, due to having three broken ribs and a trashed knee, talk to Yoshihiro Akiyama. Going off various reports this week, it sounds like “Sexyama” (wonder who came up with that nickname?) is rife with grief, about not being able to fight Silva any longer. First there were reports that he was less than enthralled about fighting replacement Chris Leben next Saturday, and in a more recent report from MMA Fighting, the fighter’s management reportedly informed the outlet that Akiyama has been suffering from depression and had stopped training…wow. Talk about wanting to fight someone…

The report went on to say that Akiyama still wasn’t sure he was going to even show up for UFC 116, before passing a long an update from the middleweight’s blog, which apparently stated:

“I had various choices but … I’ll do my best in my fight!”

This jives with MMA Junkie’s report yesterday that Akiyama had finally agreed to take the fight. Just spit balling here, but if Akiyama had outright refused to fight Leben and pulled a no show at UFC 116- the chances of the Japanese fighter remaining on good terms with Dana White and the UFC brass, would be what? 1%? Or is that being too generous?

At any rate, as we noted earlier in the week, we’re thinking Leben vs. Akiyama could be pretty sweet. To bet on UFC 116 head here.

Yesterday, after finding out an injured Wanderlei Silva would no longer fight Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116 (dude has broken ribs and a knee that requires surgery- guess we’ll give him a pass…this time), our childish temper tantrum soon subsided with news that Chris Leben would be Silva’s replacement. After all, Leben’s a damn entertaining fighter who also likes to slug it out, so, really things could be worse right?

Well, if a report from Fighters Only Magazine is accurate, Akiyama apparently doesn’t agree with our above sentiment. Citing a story from a South Korean blog called Daum.net, it appears as though the judo star isn’t exactly thrilled about facing Leben (to put it lightly). Why? Here’s a snippet.

“If there is to be a replacement I was hoping for a big name,” he added, “I spent one year preparing hard for this fight and this news has come as a big disappointment, my motivation has waned. I do not know yet what will happen. .. In the worst case, I will not take part in the [UFC 116] event. We are working hard to resolve this issue.”

Now, we struggle mightily with English much less Korean, so well have to take Fighters Only Magazine’s word / translation on this. Knowing Dana White, like we all think we know him, what do you think his response will be to Akiyama’s “worst case” scenario. How much of an understatement is ‘not good?’

Earlier today we passed along the unfortunate news (we’ll get through this together) that Wanderlei Silva will no longer fight Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116, due to reports that the legendary fighter had sustained a rib injury while training. Well, in a follow up report from Fighters Only Magazine, Silva informed the publication that in fact, prior to breaking three of his ribs, he suffered a serious knee injury.

“I am here to talk about my last few days. I went through a very tense and difficult weekend and had a very hard decision. Two weeks ago I felt pain in my knee while I was training wrestling. I had an MRI of my knee and three doctors told me my knee was torn. I took medicine to help with the pain, and although my knee felt loose, I said “no,” this date is very important to me and I continued training,” Silva says.

“The Axe Murderer” goes on to say in the interview that he tried to push through the knee injury, but that “Last Friday, during sparring, I injured my rib. It was very painful and the next day I had an x-ray and an MRI. I discovered I had three broken ribs.” Considering that Akiyama has spent years tossing human bodies around on a judo mat like they were bean bags, in addition to possessing a pretty solid punch (see bout with Denis Kang), we’re siding with Wanderlei on this one.

Silva will likely be on the shelf for a little while as the former Pride champ revealed his knee will require surgery. To wager a lil something, something on how his replacement Chris Leben will fair against Akiyama, head here.

It is times like this that ‘bloggers’ really dread (no, we’re not completely opposed to being described as ‘hacks’); so just what in the hell are we referring to? Well, if you haven’t heard by now, and didn’t read the above headline, better put the coffee down as alas our friends, Wanderlei Silva has reportedly fractured his ribs while preparing for his scheduled UFC 116 bout with Yoshihiro Akiyama. The former Pride champ is out. Take a moment, grab another donut; it will help dull the pain.

MMA Fighting was apparently the first to confirm with Dana White that indeed “The Axe Murderer” is out of the co-main event for the promotion’s July 3^rd event. Then, in a follow up report from MMA Junkie, the outlet confirmed with sources that Chris Leben has agreed to step in for Silva. MMA Fighting also confirmed afterwards that Leben will now face the accomplished judo competitor at UFC 116.

So, now we’ve got the “Cat Smasher” instead of the “Axe Murderer”; although it’s painfully clear that we here at Fix were really looking forward to seeing Wanderlei fight again (as keeping thoughts to ourselves isn’t something we do), Leben is a pretty good substitute no? We all know he’s going to go after the Japanese middleweight (just like Wandy would have), he also loves to slug it out (as does Mr. Silva) and Akiyama is no shrinking violet when it comes to stand-up battles. It’s also a huge opportunity for Leben; he just took out the rising Aaron Simpson last weekend, and another win over a notable dude like Akiyama would say a lot.

To bet on UFC 116 head here.

The two fights with lines so far for UFC 89 are the middleweight bout between the aforementioned Micheal Bisping (-200) and Chris Leben (+160), and light heavyweights fight of Brandon Vera (-165) and Keith Jardine (+135).

If we had to name this card something for MMA Fix, it’d be like “UFC 89: Redemption.” Look for our picks around October 14.