It looks like 2009 is not an option in relation to middleweight Anderson Silva’s next title defense. The champion will be going under the knife to undergo elbow surgery relatively soon and will miss the rest of the 2009 fight season.

The injury was mentioned on ESPN’s “MMA LIVE” Twitter board recently, although Anderson’s manager, Ed Soares, had no comment.

UFC officials briefly hoped that Anderson would have been able to participate in UFC 105, set to take place on November 14 in Manchester, England; but as of right now, it appears that Silva will not return to the Octagon until probably early 2010 at the earliest.

The most likely scenario upon Silva’s return is that Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt will at some point of time fight to become the #1 contender to Silva’s middleweight belt.