As Vitor Belfort lie beneath Chris Weidman, beaten and battered from unanswered punches and elbows, Luke Rockhold sat cageside, enjoying every second of it. Every ounce of respect for the 38-year-old MMA legend is gone for Rockhold, who still believes he was cheated out of a UFC title shot.
Belfort, a past prescribed user of testosterone replacement therapy, blasted Rockhold in the first round of their middleweight bout in May 2013. The highlight reel knockout has seen more play than a 90s Backstreet Boys video.
But for Rockhold, it serves as a cold reminder for what he believes was stolen from him.
The bout took place in a time where prescribed TRT treatment was allowed in MMA. When speaking with MMA Fighting‘s Ariel Helwani, it was obvious Rockhold still hasn’t let go of the past.
“As nice as it would be to fight Vitor and get my hands around his little chicken neck, I wish nothing good for him,” Rockhold said. “He deserved it. I wanted to see Vitor get beat up. I’m happy he got what he deserved.”
Belfort looked to have Weidman in all sorts of trouble early in the fight. In typical Phenom fashion, the former UFC light heavyweight champ sprinted after Weidman with a barrage of uppercuts and hooks. But like every great champion, Weidman triumphed in the face of adversity by weathering the early storm and securing a takedown.
The initial roller coaster ride was all downhill from there for Belfort, who looked like a shark on dry land. It was the inevitable outcome Rockhold expected.
“Weidman got rocked, that’s what I said before,” he said. “Vitor would come out with his initial steroid burst, and then the fight would be over.”
There was controversy at the UFC 187 weigh-ins a day before the fight. After stepping onto the scale, Weidman said his camp learned Belfort had a testosterone score of 1,200 heading into the bout. He claimed Belfort was “cheating,” and he was going to “make him pay.”
He elaborated on his comments a bit more at the post-fight press conference. According to Weidman, the report came from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. Rockhold didn’t need any confirmation of guilt to lay suspicion on Belfort.
“The test results doesn’t come out like that like they reported,” Rockhold said. “Testosterone doesn’t fluctuate like that for an older man like that. It’s not if he’s cheating—it’s how much is he cheating.”
The UFC has yet to officially name Rockhold the next No. 1 contender, but he is expected to be the next man in line to challenge Weidman for the middleweight title.
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He also is the MMA writer for FanRag Sports and co-founder of The MMA Bros.
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