Vitor Claims to Have Been Forced to Retire Never Declined Weidman Fight

Via Vitor's Facebook

Vitor Belfort wrote:

Vitor Belfort
VITOR BELFORT HASN'T GIVEN UP THE FIGHT, WAS FORCED TO RETIRE ".

"I never gave up fighting in UFC 173 and never mentioned it. Therefore, all information posted in any mass media advertising that is not true.

What I announced was that I will be resigning "TRT" and not "giving up the fight" to continue my dream of fighting.

The UFC decided to put another opponent in my place because I didn't have time to fit the new rules of the NSAC. According to the UFC, I will face the winner of Weidman vs Lyotto within the new regulations of all the Athletic Commissions.

I'm sorry that this happened, and I appreciate the strength and understanding of all fans, sponsors, UFC and athletic commissions ".

Vitor Belfort

https://www.facebook.com/vitorbelfort/posts/728351027199190

Did I miss some thing when I read this? I didn't actually read any where that says he was forced to retire just he wanted to keep the fight but UFC wanted him to cycle himself out and get the winner of Machida/weidman. Did I miss some thing?

Yeah, the first sentence he posted was 
VITOR BELFORT HASN'T GIVEN UP THE FIGHT, WAS FORCED TO RETIRE


That whole thing in the quote is directly from his facebook.

I think he may have been referring to "retiring from the one fight"...

but
I'm gonna roll with that head line any way lol... it is a direct quote after all

So he admittedly "didn't have time to fit the new rules" and therefore won't be able to compete in the fight?
That's about as close to "giving up the fight" or pulling out as you can get. If someone is injured and can't fight, is that not pulling out of the fight, even if its out of their control?
It's the same thing, IMO.

He'll fight again without TRT. Heck when Mir fought on TRT it didn't help. Sometimes the body is too old.

I love how he says that he never said he couldnt fight or that he didnt want to fight, the ufc just replaced him.  But later on he says he just didnt have time to get clean under the new rules...lol

What a clown.

Vitor - TRT=  

FistK wrote:

I love how he says that he never said he couldnt fight and that he didnt want to fight, the ufc just replaced him.  But later on he says he just didnt have time to get clean under the new rules...lol

What a clown.

Yeah nothing about what he said made any sense from the get-go.
So you're on TRT, now it's outlawed, you admittedly- in your own words- won't be able to operate within the rules and therefore can't fight, and somehow the UFC forced you out of the fight and this is all their fault?

Is it also the UFC's fault that you were on TRT in the first? You might as well go all the way with this. Why split hairs?

Triggerman99 wrote:

FistK wrote:

I love how he says that he never said he couldnt fight and that he didnt want to fight, the ufc just replaced him.  But later on he says he just didnt have time to get clean under the new rules...lol

What a clown.

Yeah nothing about what he said made any sense from the get-go.
So you're on TRT, now it's outlawed, you admittedly- in your own words- won't be able to operate within the rules and therefore can't fight, and somehow the UFC forced you out of the fight and this is all their fault?

Is it also the UFC's fault that you were on TRT in the first? You might as well go all the way with this. Why split hairs?

Haha summed up perfectly.

Since we are splitting hairs, you cannot put all the blame on Vitor.
The UFC/Commissions are OK with TRT and allow fighters to fight on it.
They then decide to ban it when a fight is already scheduled.
Your testosterone levels don't drop overnight; neither does your body's ability to recover.

IMO, the UFC/AC should have grandfathered any scheduled fights under the old rules, but that's just me.

I didn't say Vitor was to blame, just that his logic is fucked. He's blaming everybody under the sun and making claims that the UFC forced him out of the fight, then in the next breathe says he physically couldn't fight in the time frame so he has to pull out.
He's just all over the place. Why doesn't he just say "Well, if I had more time, I could still fight. it's unfortunate, but I'll make sure I'm ready for next time"? instead of pointing fingers while contradicting himself.

Yeah Stock, pretty much what Trigg said.

I was not blaming Vitor at all for not fighting.

What I was blaming him for was saying "The UFC forced him out of the fight when he still wanted to go" and then admitting that he would not have been allowed to fight because his testosterone levels would not be down in time.

Its douchebaggery...

Kind of like GSP saying he retired because the UFC basically balked at his noble attempt to make the sport cleaner, but then later turned around and gave 200 other different excuses for retirement, like the pressure was too much, he has OCD, the aliens made him do it, etc.
OK, fine. You have the right to retire, and are entitled to use any reasoning you want, but if it wasn't the big, bad UFC's unfair treatment of you like you initially stated, maybe that should have been cleared up just a bit.

FistK wrote:

Yeah Stock, pretty much what Trigg said.

I was not blaming Vitor at all for not fighting.

What I was blaming him for was saying "The UFC forced him out of the fight when he still wanted to go" and then admitting that he would not have been allowed to fight because his testosterone levels would not be down in time.

Its douchebaggery...

First of all most these fighters are dumb fucking meatheads and/or don't speak good english, so maybe my expectations are too low for me to diagram their sentences.
If I had a fight coming up and then they kicked my knee in half (thus making it impossible for me to fight), I think you could read between the lines that the UFC forced me out of the fight.

But whatever, enjoy your boring ass fucking fight with Machida.

Well then he should own what he said. That's the point.

Maybe something was lost in translation, but we all got the general idea:
"The UFC told me to step down."
Then that was replaced by "I wouldn't have been able to fight".

So regardless of how great his English is or which of those sentiments is the more accurate, the point is pick a stance and stick with it. Did they tell you to step down, or did you willingly step down, knowing you couldn't perform properly or pass a test? Those are two completely different opinions. "Pick one" is all I'm saying.

stock wrote:

FistK wrote:

Yeah Stock, pretty much what Trigg said.

I was not blaming Vitor at all for not fighting.

What I was blaming him for was saying "The UFC forced him out of the fight when he still wanted to go" and then admitting that he would not have been allowed to fight because his testosterone levels would not be down in time.

Its douchebaggery...

But whatever, enjoy your boring ass fucking fight with Machida.

I'm not sure what just happened here?   

Stock really wanted to see Vitor fight, and really doesn't want to see Machida fight. I think that's what this boiled down to.

well, this is pretty obvious, vitor is trying to save grace and is failing, due to his limited potential to sound logical. whatever, not a bi deal, and he will fight again, somewhere else besides vegas.
and to put it on record, this is a terrible decision by nevada commission. my personal opinion is that there is nothing wrong with TRT. if a 45 years old fighter takes testosterone and fights like a 25 years old, there is nothing wrong with that within the confines of the octagon. the opponent should be ok fighting a 25 years old, even if the guy is 65. nothing wrong.
the problem is, obviously, is when the supplements make you unproportionally faster and stronger than a human being. there are testings for that. as long as, physically, the fighter is within human abilities he should be allowed to fight.
the only one argument against that i consider legitimate is "how do you define human abilities?". there is science to remedy that and personal history of the fighter.

oh and, WAR MACHIDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think you're missing the point on exactly what constitutes TRT abuse. Just because your levels are within acceptable limits on fight day, doesn't mean you aren't abusing it and gaining an unfair advantage.

And IMO (IMO being the important part here), it in fact is not fair for a 45 year old to be able to physically alter himself to fight like a 25 year old. There's that age old rule that nothing beats experience, with the implication that someone who is older and wiser and who has been there and done that can make up for their physical disadvantage of advanced age by applying their wealth of experience to help them defeat their younger counterpart. Well, that also applies to this scenario, except now we're also allowing that person with so much experience to turn back the physical clock. So now they've got 20 years experience on that younger fight, while also being able to match their youthfullness physically. Advantage; old guy who loaded up on T.

Aside from that, TRT is not supposed to be a cure for old age. It's supposed to treat a medical condition. Getting old is not a medical condition, it's a fact of life. When you get older, you aren't as strong and fast as you were when you were younger because your testosterone starts to lower. Don't start claiming you need it because you're suffering that rare medical condition called middle-agedness.

well, getting old is a medical condition. according to medical researchers.
your argument about unfairness of experience did make me think, and it makes sense if you think of fighting as kind of a competition between youth/strength and wisdom/experience. in that scenario, fighters have this little window where they are able to combine their strength with experience and become the best they can be. 5-10 years maximum.
why should it be that way? why cant we level the field physically and measure fighters by how quickly and well they can adapt their knowledge. ideally, experience makes a fighter instill some skills, like recognizing certain situations, reacting accordingly and thinking 2-3 steps ahead. people do that at different rates, some have it to begin with and thats what fighting should measure. i think you are overestimating the effect of experience past a certain point, you are still limited by human body imperfections even if you wish to push beyond.
also, i think, as i said to begin with, aging is a medical condition and soon enough humans will be able to live much longer and be able to stay healthy. what are we going to do then? do we limit the age? its inevitable, unless we all nuke each other, humans will have much longer healthy span.

But that's exactly my point; you can use the term "leveling the playing field", but that's not what TRT does. TRT imbalances the playing field by taking age out of the equation.

Is there an Experience Replacement Therapy for younger, more physically capable fighters who havent yet been through the trials and tribulations of the older fighters? No, they have to gain it naturally, just like older fighters have done.

If there was, then maybe I wouldn't have a problem with older fighters loading on that lovely, youth-inducing TRT.

The only argument I can really bring to the table is that there is not one sport out there that allows TRT exemptions period. I don't really see why the UFC needs it either.

Here is something I haven't seen talked about yet at all.
If Testosterone Therapy is banned shouldn't Hormone Therapy be banned as well? Test is a hormone after all...
Not that there are any Trans fighters in the UFC, but it was just a thought. I'm sure there is more than just one Trans fighter out there...
Do the Olympics allow TRT? I know they allow HT and trans athletes to compete...

Let everyone fight.... who fucking cares.
I am of the opinion that if a doctor prescribes something, then one should be able to compete.

There are so many positive side effects of steroids and other forms of hormone deficiency treatments that outweigh the negative side effects of aging and deminishing testosterone levels. There are any number of things people are allowed to do that are somehow considered "natural" and are allowed that give much more of an advantage than steroids or TRT.

It's all just stupid. Sports are all becoming stupid.