UFC’s Mr. Clean, Belfort claims
Brazilian insists he’s put days of performance-enhancing drug use behind him
“You’ve got the haters, but that’s life. I’ve been here before, and I’m blessed to be here.” ť VITOR BELFORT UFC MIDDLEWEIGHT CONTENDER
Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort had been waiting to trade punches since early last year. Way back then, Weidman was a new champion with no real injury problems and Belfort had just knocked out his last three opponents with spectacular head kicks.
They finally got into the cage at UFC 187 in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Weidman was returning from two significant injuries, while Belfort is a different man entirely — no longer enhanced by the sanctioned steroid use that his critics feel contributed greatly to his incredible late-career surge.
After three postponements, Weidman and Belfort were eager to close this prolonged chapter when they duelled for Weidman’s middleweight belt at the MGM Grand Garden.
“I knew at some point we would have to face each other. It’s inevitable,” Weidman said before the fight. “He’s a guy who is on a threefight winning streak, and he’s never looked better. People are forgetting about that because he’s been out for so long, and I’m prepared for the best Vitor we’ve ever seen.”
Weidman (12-0,) and Belfort (24-10) fought shortly before Anthony (Rumble) Johnson and Daniel Cormiermet for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title. No fight was more anticipated than Belfort’s attempt to become just the third fighter to hold UFC belts in two weight classes.
Belfort’s brief reign as the light heavyweight champion in 2004 was a highlight of an 18-year MMA career for a veteran who won a two-fight heavyweight tournament way back at UFC 12 in 1997, when he was only 19 years old. Only Anderson Silva has won more UFC fights by stoppage than Belfort.
Yet Belfort spent the last few years as the most visible example of mixed martial arts’ problems with performance-enhancing drugs. Several years after getting busted in the Pride promotion in 2006, he gleefully used testosterone replacement therapy that was allowed at the time, but eventually banned in the sport for its obvious competitive advantages.
He says he is clean now and he intends to prove he can be a champion naturally. “You’ve got the haters, but that’s life,” Belfort said. “I’ve been here before, and I’m blessed to be here. How many guys from my era are still around?”
Until Saturday night, Belfort hadn’t fought since November 2013, when he head-kicked Dan Henderson or his third straight highlight-reel knockout victory. Belfort also stopped Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold in similarly spectacular fashion in 2013 while fighting in his native Brazil.
Weidman watched Belfort’s surge with incredulity. The Long Island, N.Y., native has taken shots at Belfort’s enhanced physique and subsequent deflation on social media and in interviews for most of the past three years.
This matchup originally was scheduled for May 2014, but Belfort dropped out after the Nevada Athletic Commission closed the loophole on his steroid-test workaround. Weidman took on Lyoto Machida instead, winning a gruelling decision last July. Weidman and Belfort then were slated for December 2014, but Weidman broke his hand in September. The matchup was rescheduled for last February, but Weidman injured his ribs four weeks before the event.
Weidman says the UFC considered staging an interim title bout. Instead, he healed and kept his date with Belfort.