Vitor Belfort explains why he turned down an interim title fight with Lyoto Machida

http://www.mmafighting.com/2015/2/1/7959945/vitor-belfort-explains-why-he-turned-down-an-interim-title-fight-with



The UFC was willing to create an interim middleweight title after Chris Weidman pulled out from a UFC 184 bout with Vitor Belfort due to an injury, but the Brazilian declined to face Lyoto Machida on Feb. 28.

On his Facebook page, "The Phenom" explained his decision, saying he would agree to fight Machida or anyone else if the UFC strips Weidman of his title.

About the cancellation of my UFC 184 fight.

I would like to say that, as everyone else, I’m very disappointed with all this situation.

For exactly one year, I have seen my dream to make history in UFC with my 3rd world title in a different weight category postponed.

Here are some facts:

- UFC had to reschedule the middleweight world title content 3 times because of my opponent’s injuries (from May/14 to July/14- Weidman had a knee surgery, from December/14 to February/15 - Weidman had his hand broken, from February/15 to probably May/15- Weidman had his ribs hurt)

- MY FOCUS WAS ALWAYS THE MIDDLEWEIGHT BELT AND I CLIMBED THE LADDER TO ACHIEVE MY POSITION.

- This is why I won't fight for an interim, but if UFC gives 8 weeks and the middleweight Belt available for dispute I fight with anyone from the ranking. Not for an Interim, But the Middleweight Belt!

- I’ve been in this sport for 19 years and I have never let UFC down.

- I accepted to fight for the Light Heavyweight Belt right after my sister got kidnapped and I still won the world championship.

- I offered myself to fight in the UFC 152 against Jon Jones with less than 8 weeks to prepare myself to the bout and I had exactly the same injury my opponent has now and still I stepped up to the fight.

I would like to thank UFC, the press and fans support, always.

Focused on the Middleweight Belt!

The UFC has yet to announce a new date for Weidman's return.

I read some where else that Vitor's wife and manager said that he wanted to fight Yoel Romaro in the mean time.

he accepted a fight against yoel and munoz but turned down gegard and machida.

probably because vitor has been training his ass off for weidmans wrestling.

Wtf!?! I agree that Weidman's injuries have sucked, but he is being misleading here. Wasn't the fight postponed last May because he failed a drug test? lol

FistK wrote:

Wtf!?!  I agree that Weidman's injuries have sucked, but he is being misleading here.  Wasn't the fight postponed last May because he failed a drug test?  lol

I kind of get what he is saying, interim championships are bullshit, either offer the actual belt and title or schedule a different fight.

Grey Suit wrote:

FistK wrote:

Wtf!?!  I agree that Weidman's injuries have sucked, but he is being misleading here.  Wasn't the fight postponed last May because he failed a drug test?  lol

I kind of get what he is saying, interim championships  are bullshit, either offer the actual belt and title or schedule a different fight.

That's not the part im referencing. He said "This fight has been rescheduled 3 times since last may because of his injuries" but im pretty sure the fight last may was rescheduled because of his failed drug test.

That makes no sense. He'd rather fight Romero than for an interim belt?
He still gets a belt, and if Wiedman can't fight in a reasonable amount of time he gets the "real" belt.

since weidman won the belt every scheduled fight he has been injured before fight day.

if i was vitor i would rather fight romero or munoz because stylistically that is who is closest to weidmans style of fighting. plus machida is a southpaw which might also add to it. machida is a tricky guy to take on short notice.

Who does this guy think he is?!
I'm as sick as the next guy of Weidman's never-ending injuries, but Vitor needs to seriously check himself if he thinks he has the right to demand nonsense like this.
I mean honestly, what's the difference? Even if the UFC did strip Weidman of the title and give it to Vitor if he beat whoever they put him in there with, his next fight would be against Weidman as soon as Weidman was healthy anyway, and everybody would still be viewing Weidman as the "real champ" leading up to the fight, so what the fuck does it matter?

I'm not a Weidman fan, but I'm gradually beginning to really look forward to him putting an ass-whooping on this guy.

stock wrote:

That makes no sense.  He'd rather fight Romero than for an interim belt?
He still gets a belt, and if Wiedman can't fight in a reasonable amount of time he gets the "real" belt.

Right but if he loses to Machida he goes back to the end of the line without getting a shot at the actual belt. Its no different than someone turning down a second #1 contender fight because the champ gets hurt.

The UFC needs to put a time limit on defending the belt, if you get hurt and can defend it for 6 months you loose the belt but you get first crack at it when you get back. Look at how much of a joke the 135 belt turned into when Cruz was out for 3 years.

Grey Suit wrote:

stock wrote:

That makes no sense.  He'd rather fight Romero than for an interim belt?
He still gets a belt, and if Wiedman can't fight in a reasonable amount of time he gets the "real" belt.

Right but if he loses to Machida he goes back to the end of the line without getting a shot at the actual belt.  Its no different than someone turning down a second #1 contender fight because the champ gets hurt.  

The UFC needs to put a time limit on defending the belt, if you get hurt and can defend it for 6 months you loose the belt but you get first crack at it when you get back.  Look at how much of a joke the 135 belt turned into when Cruz was out for 3 years.

But if he's afraid to lose his spot as the #1 contender, then why not just wait it out and fight Weidman when he's healthy?
It's different from a second #1 contender fight like you said because Belfort already has the next title shot; nobody is telling him "fight for the Interim title or you don't get a shot at the real belt". It's not like he's being given an ultimatum or something. It's like he's stirring the pot just for the fuck of it.

Weidman's injuries piss me off too, but it's just plain delusional IMO for Vitor to simultaneously refuse to fight for an Interim title, try to pick his opponent, and call for Weidman's title to be stripped.