UFC legend Vitor Belfort reportedly has his final fight in the octagon ready to go.
After an initial report from Combate, MMA Fighting has confirmed the UFC is targeting ‘The Phenom’ versus Nate Marquardt for June 3’s UFC 212 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in what will be Belfort’s last trip to the cage.
Belfort is one of the fight game’s most transcendent stars as the only to have bridged the gap from the UFC’s “Dark Ages” to today’s evolved brand of mixed martial arts. The Brazilian knockout artist will go down as one of the most game competitors to compete in the octagon as well, having won a UFC Heavyweight Tournament title and the UFC light heavyweight title. He’s obviously seen better days in his decorated career, however, losing four of his last five bouts with all four losses coming by way of TKO.
Also a veteran of Pride and other MMA promotions, Belfort fought a who’s-who of legendary MMA talent and has only lost to the best in a 25-14 career that featured 18 knockout wins. A true testament to his warrior spirit, he’s fallen only to Anderson Silva, Jon Jones, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Alistair Overeem, Jacare Souza, Gegard Mousasi, Chris Weidman, and most recently Kelvin Gastelum.
After losing to the rising TUF 17 winner this March, Belfort revealed his next fight would be his last after admitting his body could no longer compete with the best fighters in the world after so many years and wars.
That’s a long list of unforgettable UFC stars a fighter would be hard-pressed to even face half of throughout a career. Belfort also owns wins over Couture, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, Rich Franklin, Luke Rockhold, two over Henderson, Heath Herring, and of course, UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping.
It’s that unreal record which “The Phenom” should be most remembered for, but unfortunately two drug test failures (one in Pride and one out of competition in the UFC) cast a severe cloud over his legacy, the second of which ended his highly controversial run as the poster boy for testosterone-replacement therapy (TRT) when he knocked out Bisping, Rockhold, and Henderson with huge head kicks in the span of roughly 10 months in 2013.
True, he’ll always be equated with performance-enhancing drugs, yet his impact on the growing sport of MMA – throughout its frowned-upon early years and the public popularity of today – cannot be denied.
He’ll look to end his illustrious run on a high note against Marquardt, another middleweight who’s fought a long list of legends, in his native Rio de Janeiro on the Jose Aldo/Max Holloway-headlined event. He was rumored to potentially face former rival Anderson Silva, but “The Spider” shot down the fight by citing he wanted an opponent who won his last fight after Kelvin Gastelum was forced out of the bout for failing an out-of-competition USADA drug test for marijuana metabolites.
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