George St-Pierre (top) and Vitor Belfort (bottom) training – Photo via Rayalamo.com
Former UFC champion Vitor ‘The Phenom’ Belfort (21-9) has a chance to compete in front of his fellow Brazilians for a second straight fight when he meets Alan Belcher at UFC 153 this October.
Belfort was supposed to have faced fellow TUF: Brazil coach Wanderlei Silva last month at UFC 147 but a broken hand forced ‘The Phenom’ off the card. Previous to that scheduled fight, Belfort fought last January at UFC 142 in Rio, submitting Anthony Johnson in the first round of their 197-lbs catchweight bout.
Now that his hand has healed, Belfort is looking forward to stepping back into the cage, hoping that a victory versus ‘The Talent’ will get him back into the cage with UFC champ Anderson Silva. Belfort tells Tatame.com that he’s focused on Belcher but the title is still on his mind.
“It’s a huge pleasure to fight here again, specially now that the UFC is growing a lot in my country. I always dreamed with moments like this and I’m very happy to fight in front of my fans again”, Belfort said.
Vitor believes a win over Belcher puts him closer to the title, but he prefers to focus on his next fight.
“He’s an excellent fighter, a tough guy, good in every aspect. He’s coming of a great win over Toquinho (Rousimar Palhares). I’m sure this will be a great test for both,” he said. “I’m focused on the title, but Belcher is my next fight and that’s the only thing that worries me now”.
Belfort is 7-1 in his last eight matches four of which took place inside the Octagon. The single loss, was a first round knockout defeat at the hands of Silva at UFC 126.