Could Vitor Belfort Be Headed to Bellator After Final UFC Fight?
Vitor Belfort had originally planned on heading into retirement after fulfilling his current UFC contract. Now, he appears interested in fights with Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen.
Belfort is slated to meet Nate Marquardt at UFC 212 on June 3 in Rio de Janeiro, which is the final fight of his current UFC contract. The Brazilian had been planning on retiring following that fight, but now, it seems he wants to continue competing.
“Technically and physically, Vitor has full conditions to continue fighting,” his manage, Gustavo Lacerda, said during the MMA Ganhador podcast, as reported by MMAFighting. “Of course, he has the hormonal deficiency everybody knows… But I think he lit up his fire again. We’ll go fight by fight. First, we’ll think about his fight with Nate Marquardt, and then we have more good things ahead.”
Belfort has mentioned a League of Legends idea in the past, where fighters that are getting on in years or are toward the end of their careers could match-up, perhaps even under modified rules to compensate for declining physical abilities.
While he wouldn't likely be fighting under modified rules, it sounds as if Belfort is interested in moving on to somewhere he can compete against other fighters in their twilight years. Specifically, his manager appears to have Bellator bouts in mind against the likes of Silva and Sonnen, who will fight each other at Bellator NYC in June.
TRENDING > Cris Cyborg Punching Angela Magana Incident Caught on Video
“What I think it’s possible to imagine is: what does the MMA fan wants?” Lacerda said. “He wants to see Vitor vs. Wanderlei, wants to see Vitor vs. Sonnen. He wants these type of fights. And it’s the type of fights that interest us. Vitor doesn’t need to prove anything regarding to ranking or title. The idea is to have fights that are interesting. Interest the fans, and interest the fighter.
“I’m particularly crazy to see Vitor vs. Wanderlei,” he continued. “It’s a fight I pay to see. There are fights people want to see, and those are the fights that are interesting. Where it will be, and how it will be, I can’t say anything right now. But they might happen.”
