In the Cage – 9.21.11

Each day, The MMA Corner will provide a recap of event announcements, fight matchups, and injuries/cancellations from throughout the world of MMA.

One of the biggest fighters to cross over from Strikeforce to the UFC is middleweight Cung Le.  The South Vietnamese fighter was going to make his promotional debut against Vitor Belfort at UFC 139, however due to an injury, Belfort has had to withdraw from the fight.  Replacing Belfort will be MMA legend Wanderlei Silva, who will be looking to bounce back from his recent loss to Chris Leben at UFC 132.

UFC 139 will take place on Nov. 19 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

Despite being released recently because of his team, Golden Glory, heavyweight Jon Olav Einemo will return to the Octagon.  UFC President Dana White announced today that the Norwegian has been resigned and will fight again for the UFC.  Currently, Einemo does not have an announced opponent nor does he have an announced event at which he will return.  He is 0-1 in his UFC career after squaring off against Dave Herman at UFC 131 in a performance which landed him Fight of the Night honors.

Due to undisclosed reasons, Mark Scanlon has had to pull out of his fight at UFC 138.  Because of this, his scheduled opponent James Head will now take on John Maguire.  Maguire will be making his promotional debut after fighting most recently for the British promotion Ultimate Challenge MMA, where he has successfully defended the welterweight championship in his last three fights.

UFC 138 will take place on Nov. 5 at the LG Arena in Birmingham, England.  The event will feature the first-ever five-round non-title fight in UFC history as Mark Munoz and Chris Leben square off in the main event.