Belfort marking time with Marquardt?

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JAKE ROSSEN/SHERDOG.COM via <a href="http://espn.go.com/" title="ESPN" class="espn_sc_byline">ESPN </a>
via
February 5, 2015, 3:39 AM ET
2 min read

— -- Vitor Belfort has been offered a bout with Nate Marquardt, "a source close to the Brazilian" tells Fighter's Only. The fight, which presumably will take place sometime in the winter or spring of 2010, would bridge the gap while Belfort awaits his promised title shot against Anderson Silva, who has been recovering from recent elbow surgery.

If true, it's terrific. Belfort needs to get on some solid middleweight footing after dropping Rich Franklin in a so-what 195-pound tussle in September. Meantime, Marquardt could use a test against someone with the stand-up to hurt him.

Only issue: The fight would slide a Belfort-Silva title bout to the summer. Hopefully Silva can squeeze in a 205-pound fight in the interim. If only Tito Ortiz's cracked skull could heal in time.

Dec. 2 update: Subsequent reports indicate this story has little merit. My faith in Internet reporting, previously unshakeable, is beginning to crack.