Vitor Belfort admits he fought injured and says: 'I wasn't the first and I won't be the last'

Belfort admits he fought against Lyoto injured (Photo: Reproduction/ Facebook UFC)rt

Following the news released last Wednesday (16), Vitor belfort admitted that he climbed into the octagon to face Lyoto Machida at UFC 224, last Saturday (12), injured. The fighter used his Instagram account to explain why he fought with a Grade II injury to the medial ligament of his left knee.

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Without detracting from Machida's victory or justifying his defeat, Vitor guarantees that the information about the injury was leaked without his knowledge. He stated that the desire to say goodbye at home, in front of his fans, was one of the reasons that made him fight and said: “I wasn't the first and I won't be the last”.

Vitor belfort announced his retirement at UFC 224, an event held last Saturday (12), in Rio de Janeiro. The ‘Phenomenon’ hung up his gloves with 41 fights, 26 wins, 14 losses and one fight without result (No Contest).

Check out Belfort's full statement

“I will be as direct as possible in this post. In order to be respectful to the public and especially to my opponent. The information about my injury somehow leaked to the press. Neither I nor anyone on my team made any mention of what happened before, during or after the fight.
Victory or defeat, fighting injured or not, are part of an athlete's life. I wasn't the first to fight injured and I won't be the last. Even with all the limitations imposed by my injury, it is up to me to decide whether I will step into the Octagon or not.
I decided yes!
I didn't want to miss out on saying goodbye in my country, in my hometown and in front of a respected opponent. I gave the best I could in the fight and my opponent was better that night. And that's what counts! No adversity that I may have experienced takes away from his merit.
Of course, it wasn't the farewell I expected. Not because of the result, because we never have control over that. But because I couldn't perform like I know I can.
I literally grew up in the octagon, I was trained as a fighter, forged to leave everything there inside that octagon and these teachings I take into my life. Give your all in every minute, in every second, in everything you do…
 
I thank everyone for their love!
To all those who genuinely care about me, I say: Today I am a wounded Lion.
And for those who only envy and speak ill…
I say: I may be hurt, but I'm still a LION!
I leave here my “See you soon”!

I will be as direct as possible in this post. In order to be respectful to the public and especially to my opponent. The information about my injury somehow leaked to the press. Neither I nor anyone on my team made any mention of what happened before, during or after the fight. Victory or defeat, fighting injured or not; are part of an athlete's life. I wasn't the first to fight injured and I won't be the last. Even with all the limitations imposed by my injury, it is up to me to decide whether I will step into the octagon or not. I decided that; Yes! I didn't want to miss out on saying goodbye in my country, in my hometown and in front of a respected opponent. I gave the best I could in the fight and my opponent was better that night. And that's what counts! No adversity that I may have experienced takes away from his merit. Of course, it wasn't the farewell I expected. Not because of the result, because we never have control over that. But because I couldn't perform like I know I can. I literally grew up in the octagon, I was trained as a fighter, forged to leave everything there inside that octagon and these teachings I take into my life. Give your all in every minute, every second in everything you do… I thank everyone for their love! To all those who genuinely care about me, I say: Today I am a wounded Lion. And to those who only envy and speak badly... I say: I may be hurt, but I'm still a LION! I leave mine here; See you soon!

A publication shared by Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort (@vitorbelfort) on May 17, 2018 at 1:10 am PDT

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