FanHouse Vitor Belfort

With heavyweight kingpin Brock Lesnar on the shelf for the forseeable future, the UFC is likely moving towards an interim heavyweight title future, but who exactly that future involves is anyone's guess.

FanHouse spoke to several sources in the last 48 hours, and it seems that the organization is no closer to having any type of clarity in the title picture as they continue to deal with illnesses, injuries and other issues that have suddenly crept into scheduling.

According to two sources close to the situation, the UFC's preference is an interim title bout between Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez to be held at UFC 110 on Feb. 21 in Sydney, Australia. But the UFC will have to wade through several difficulties in putting together such a matchup, which seems increasingly less likely to happen.

DALLAS – While Rich Franklin will likely never say it, he didn't want a fight in September, let alone one against Vitor Belfort. Franklin would have preferred some time off, but the need for a headliner for UFC 103 pushed him into making the decision to participate.

Franklin may be a company man, but that loyalty – along with Belfort's considerable skills – cost Franklin, as Belfort returned to the UFC with a shocking first-round TKO over the ex-UFC middleweight champion in front of 17,428 at the American Airlines Center.