Luke Rockhold and other UFC fighters have criticized Vitor Belfort for testing positive in the first test he did outside of Brazil after a 3-0 run in 2013.
Rockhold said Belfort’s “frail” body would fall apart before his title fight with Chris Weidman, scheduled for UFC 181 on Dec. 6, but “The Phenom” says they are all just jealous.
“I think they are just afraid. I understand,” Belfort said Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “That playboy is still in shock from the kick. He’s in shock. People are in shock. That’s the word. Lions don’t apologize for being lions. I don’t. It is what it is.”
The middleweight contender competed in the UFC for the first time in 1997, ten years before Rockhold fought his first MMA bout.
“Eighteen years ago, I was in this game,” the Brazilian said. “I had to fight twice in one night. In 2004, I became the light heavyweight champion. I’m so glad that I’m still here, and I think that affects a lot of people, and give joy to a lot of people. A lot of guys they are just mama’s boys with powder in their butts.
“When you get knocked out, just shut your mouth, go to the gym and train,” he added. “Eighteen years ago, all of these boys were in high school, and right now they think they are going to use me as a ladder? But the ladder is so high, the altitude is so high they cannot breathe. Hey bro, the altitude is too high.”
Rockhold is confident that Belfort won’t fight Weidman in December, so he’s already campaigning to replace him against Weidman. In his last UFC bouts, the former Strikeforce middleweight titleholder stopped Tim Boetsch and Costas Philippou in the first round.