Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) held a special pre-fight press conference on Tuesday (Jan. 17, 2017) for the upcoming UFC Fight Night 107 mixed martial arts (MMA) event scheduled for March 11 in Fortaleza, Brazil.
Headlining the FOX Sports 1 fight card will be the middleweight showdown pitting former UFC champion Vitor Belfort against streaking welterweight import Kelvin Gastelum.
Watch them face off below:
As estrelas do #UFCFortaleza @vitorbelfort e @KelvinGastelum ficaram frente a frente. Tudo sobre ingressos > https://t.co/7khOiLtk96 pic.twitter.com/DyFuEimdSg
— UFC BRASIL (@ufc_brasil) January 17, 2017
The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 17 winner expressed his interest in challenging “The Phenom” moments after he battered Tim Kennedy from pillar to post at UFC 206 last month (Sat., Dec. 10, 2016) en route to a super impressive knockout win (watch highlights here). Gastelum also claimed that he would eventually return to the Welterweight division, even though he has a terrible history when it comes to making the 170-pound limit.
Belfort has been a perennial 185-pound title contender for years, challenging for the belt (albeit unsuccessfully) against Anderson Silva at UFC 128 and then Chris Weidman at UFC 187. However, the former Light Heavyweight champion has dropped back-to-back fights opposite Ronaldo Souza at UFC 198 and Gegard Mousasi at UFC 204, which has all but erased him from the Middleweight contender conversation.
In fact, Belfort, 39, even hinted at retirement after Mousasi steamrolled him several months ago before clarifying that he was not done quite yet.
UFC Fight Night 106 will also feature the light heavyweight showdown pitting Mauricio Rua opposite Gian Villante, while Edson Barboza and Beneil Dariush hook ‘em up in lightweight action.
Much more still to come on this Brazilian fight card in the weeks to come.