UFC middleweight Alan Belcher has made it clear there is no love lost between him and his UFC 159 opponent Michael Bisping. However, he took aim at a new target in his latest blog for Yahoo! Sports.
The Roufusport fighter took some shots at 185-pound contender Vitor Belfort, implying that all of his major accolades inside the cage have been due to some chemically-enhanced help.
“In my mind, this is a fight to get a No. 1 contender fight. Bisping didn’t lose to Vitor Belfort in January. When someone cheats with substances, like Belfort has done, it doesn’t count as a win. Belfort hasn’t proved he can win a big fight without taking steroids or TRT, so I think when I KO Bisping I should get all the recognition for being the first guy to do so since Dan Henderson did at UFC 100.”
In press conference promoting UFC on FX 8 where Belfort headlines the card against former Strikeforce champ Luke Rockhold, “The Phenom” indicated “the UFC always knew” he used testosterone replacement therapy (via Bloody Elbow).
This response was a bit of a head-scratcher, given Belfort’s bizarre reply to the same question during an interview with ESPN a few months earlier, prior to his UFC on FX 7 fight with Bisping.
Further fueling “The Talent’s” argument is the fact that Belfort tested positive for the anabolic steroid 4-hydroxytestosterone following a loss to Dan Henderson at Oct. 2006 (via MMA Weekly).
Heading into UFC 159, Belcher has won four of his past five fights, having his winning streak snapped by perennial contender Yushin Okami at UFC 155 in December.
Meanwhile, “The Count” has lost two of his past three match ups, bout losses occurring in title eliminator bouts against Chael Sonnen and Belfort.
Bisping’s last win was a unanimous decision over Brian Stann at UFC 152 in September.
Do Belcher’s comments about Belfort hold any weight, or is he just bitter about the former UFC light heavyweight champion’s success inside the Octagon?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com and contributes MMA videos to The Young Turks Sports Show.
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