LAS VEGAS — Dana White emphatically shot down fast-spreading rumors that Vitor Belfort failed a recent drug test during the week of his Jan. 19 knockout win over Michael Bisping. White confirmed that there was an “irregular” result from one of the samples taken at the event, but that it wasn’t related to Belfort.
“Something was wrong,” he said at the UFC 156 post-fight press conference. “Whenever something is wrong or weird, [the samples] get retested and usually it’s not a good thing. It f—ing was not Vitor Belfort. Yet right now I bet if you talked to 100 people, 100 people will tell you that Vitor Belfort failed his drug test in Brazil. That’s bull—-. That’s crazy.”
The rumor began Thursday night on Twitter and caught wildfire, with many assuming it was Belfort who failed a test.
White said even Bisping heard the speculation, and texted him at 1 am to find out if it was true.
White added that the results of the UFC on FX 7 show would be released on Monday by UFC vice president of regulatory affairs Marc Ratner.
The event was the first one sanctioned by the newly formed Comissao Atletica Brasiliera de MMA (CABMMA) that is attempting to develop a national federation that will regulate the sport throughout Brazil.
In a media interview earlier on Saturday night, Belfort did not outright deny the claim that he’d failed a test, but seemed to indicate the gossip was erroneous.
“I think people get jealous when a guy of my age is destroying these people getting title shots,” he said. “A lot of people were waiting for the [Bisping] fight to happen with Anderson, and I made a statement. Look for another opponent. I think just the way I did it shocked the world. The way I look at it, nobody knew what I went through: the diet, two months without eating carbohydrates. I think when you look good, the tendency of people to judge you and criticize you is bigger because it sells paper. See, we’re talking about this and I had a great performance. We’re spending more time talking about the controversy than my performance. We’re just waiting. Nothing came out yet. So let’s talk about the win.”