Vitor Belfort was given the opportunity to remain on the UFC Fight Night 124 card — or compete at UFC 220 next weekend — per Dana White.
Vitor Belfort could have fought Sunday night at UFC Fight Night 124 if he so chose, per Dana White.
The UFC president said on the FOX Sports 1 post-fight show that the promotion found the Brazilian legend a short-notice replacement for the St. Louis card, but that Belfort turned the offer down.
Belfort also declined a bout at UFC 220 next weekend in Boston, per White.
“We worked quickly and we got Vitor a fight,” White said. “He could’ve fought tonight, and he chose not to. So then we got him a fight in Boston; he chose not to fight then. I don’t know who the opponents were, but they told me, ‘We got him two fights — we got him a fight tonight, and we got him a fight in Boston.’ He turned both down.”
Belfort was scheduled to face Uriah Hall in the card’s co-main event, but the bout was scrapped on weigh-in day (Saturday). Hall fainted en route to the official morning weigh-ins, per a report, and was taken to a local hospital. The UFC announced Hall vs. Belfort was off the card at the end of the weigh-ins.
Belfort expected to have his last fight Sunday.
Globo reported Sunday morning that Belfort vs. Michael Bisping had been booked for UFC Fight Night 127 on March 17 in London, but MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani said that that report was not true according to Bisping, a former UFC middleweight champion.
White said Belfort wants to fight Bisping, whom he beat in January 2013 by TKO, though the UFC head isn’t sure at this time whether the rematch will happen.
“What I’m hearing is he wants to fight Michael Bisping in London,” White said. “So when I back to Vegas and get back in the office, I will obviously talk to Vitor, I’ll talk to Mike, and I don’t know — we’ll see what happens.”