During his final pre-fight interview at UFC 187, Chris Weidman said he was looking forward to putting what he called “the Vitor Belfort era” behind him once and for all.
It had taken more than 15 months to get him in the Octagon with Belfort, owing to the challenger’s failed drug test and Weidman’s injuries. When he finally got his chance, the middleweight champion wasted very little time bringing their long, simmering feud to a thudding end.
Weidman survived a brief—but heart-stopping—flurry from Belfort early in their co-main event bout on Saturday before he was able to ground him with a takedown in the middle of the cage. From there it was academic, as Weidman worked quickly to a dominant position and pounded Belfort until the referee pushed him off.
Total time it took him to work out his frustrations: Two minutes, 53 seconds.
It was enough time for the champion to make good on his promise to make Belfort “pay” for his three-year dalliance with testosterone-replacement therapy. It wasn’t enough, however, for Weidman to win over all of the fans in attendance at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“Stop doubting me!” he shouted to a mixed response from the crowd when the fight was over. “It’s enough! Stop doubting me! You better join the team now. This is my last invitation. Join the team!”
See, Weidman’s irritations likely included more than just Belfort on this night. He has been 185-pound champion for nearly two years now, but a certain percentage of UFC fans have been slow to embrace him.
He faced doubters and some out-and-out hostility after defeating Anderson Silva in back-to-back appearances during 2013. His 2014 bout with Lyoto Machida drew near-unanimous approval as a Fight of the Year candidate, but Weidman’s popularity still didn’t swell to levels enjoyed by other young UFC stars like Ronda Rousey or Conor McGregor.
This was a good week for him. He came across as authentic and likable during a lengthy sitdown with MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani. He fared just as well when the UFC sent him out to do a few more mainstream media appearances:
Then he dusted Belfort in a shade more than half a round. Still, it seemed as though he came away from the experience feeling a bit unloved.
A sizable contingent of Brazilian fans had reportedly traveled to Las Vegas to cheer on Belfort. This had been a long time coming for them, too. Three times before—at UFC 173, UFC 181 and UFC 184—scheduled meetings between the two fighters had to be postponed. In the interim, tensions between the two camps remained high.
For its part, the UFC steadfastly ignored Belfort’s TRT use during its pay-per-view broadcast, but continually lauded his longevity and his knockout wins over Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold and Dan Henderson during 2013. That trio of wins all came while Belfort was undergoing the controversial treatment, which was banned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission in February 2014.
Belfort showed up at UFC 187 looking notably softer, noticeably smaller after reportedly passing a gauntlet of out-of-competition drug tests leading up to this bout. He had not fought since November 9, 2013, while transitioned away from TRT, a process he once said would put him at a disadvantage.
Even without his medicine, though, Belfort proved dangerous, if only fleetingly.
Weidman came out of his corner aggressively at the opening bell, throwing a pair of head kicks and shooting for a takedown inside the first minute. Belfort shucked off that first attempt, and as their wild scramble spilled across the cage, he hit Weidman with a kick and stung him with a left hand.
The punch appeared to hurt the champion—he came away bloodied over one eye—and he momentarily covered up against the fence as Belfort began to tee off on him. But Weidman was able to circle away from the chain link and, after a moment to collect himself, landed a double-leg takedown that put Belfort on his back.
From top position, Weidman threw a series of heavy hammerfists that forced the challenger to roll to try to minimize the damage. From there, Weidman squirmed into mount and continued to rain down blows until referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the action.
“I knew he wanted to fight on the ground,” Belfort said to UFC color commentator Joe Rogan in the cage after the fight. “I was trying to avoid it, but it was a better night for him. I was doing great. I should’ve kept my distance and kept punching and kicking him, but I let him take me down.”
With Belfort now out of the way, there is no shortage of middleweight competition waiting for the next open date on Weidman’s dance card. It is largely assumed he’ll meet up with Rockhold, after the California native stopped Machida in under two full rounds last month. If Rockhold somehow doesn’t fit the bill, however, there are Jacare Souza and Yoel Romero still waiting for their opportunities.
The win over Belfort pushed Weidman to 13-0. At age 30, he’s slowly but surely making his case as one of the world’s top pound-for-pound fighters and one of the UFC’s most dominant champions.
Like it or not, however, he still has a ways to go before absolutely everybody joins the team.
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