While question marks remain in regard to whether Vitor Belfort will get licensed for his next fight, UFC President Dana White is keen on him meeting champ Chris Weidman next—preferably in Brazil.
White addressed the situation during a media scrum in Dublin on Friday, per MMA Fighting’s Shaun Al-Shatti.
We want to make that fight happen. That’s the next fight. That fight should’ve already happened before the Machida. That’s the fight we want to do and that’s the fight that Chris Weidman wants. I love this kid calling out Vitor. … It doesn’t have to take place in Nevada. That fight would be big in Brazil, too. I would do it Brazil. As long as the commission clears him, yeah. We’d want the okay from Nevada, and if Nevada was cool with it, I’d do it in Brazil.
Belfort, 37, is enjoying a three-fight win streak, with all of the victories coming in 2013 via a head-kick knockout.
However, not everyone was willing to sing The Phenom’s praises since all those fights took place in his home country of Brazil and, according to ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto, he was using testosterone replacement therapy.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion hasn’t fought on American soil since August 2011 and has compiled a 4-1 record since then, with his sole defeat coming in a short-notice bout with 205-pound champ Jon Jones.
Belfort was initially set to square off with Weidman at UFC 173 on Memorial Day weekend but was pulled from the championship matchup shortly after the Nevada State Athletic Commission banned TRT, per Damon Martin of FoxSports.com.
Furthermore, Belfort failed a post-fight drug test in October 2006 for the anabolic steroid 4-hydroxytestosterone and, through his own admission on his Instagram, stated he failed a random drug test in February for elevated levels of testosterone.
Belfort was set to appear before the NSAC in June to get licensed for a scrap with Chael Sonnen at UFC 175, but that wasn’t necessary since Sonnen was removed from the card after failing some drug tests of his own, per Okamoto.
Weidman (12-0) recently expressed an interest in fighting Belfort next on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour (via MMA Fighting’s Chuck Mindenhall) after the best 12-month stretch of his career: defeating Anderson Silva (twice) and Lyoto Machida.
All things considered, does Weidman vs. Belfort make the most sense for the next UFC middleweight championship fight?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
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