Belfort accepts Wanderlei Silva's challenge, but won't accept a fight without gloves: 'We have to evolve'

Belfort (left) agrees to face W. Silva (right), but with gloves. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook/Montagem SL

Two of the main athletes in the history of Brazilian MMA may be close to repeating a historic confrontation that took place more than 20 years ago. After being challenged by Wanderlei Silva for a fight at Bare Knuckle FC, Vitor belfort accepted, but excluded the possibility of performing without gloves. In an interview with 'Ag.Fight', the Rio native spoke about his ideas for the confrontation and the conditions for it to take place.

“Everything is possible for those who believe, especially those who want to. I'm interested, yes, and I'll let you know right away that I'd like to do this at ONE (FC), but with gloves on, because we have to evolve and never go back”, said the 'Phenomenon'.

Belfort's rejection of the modality suggested by Wanderlei is due to the fact that he understands that the conditions imposed by the organization no longer fit today. The style is reminiscent of the beginnings of the sport, when athletes exchanged forces without safety standards and concern for physical integrity.

“Times are different, the owners of the organizations are different and I think the promoter aims at what is good for the owners of the events and not for the evolution of the sport. With this, the way in which the athlete aims to grow in the company is by promoting fights with his mouth and choosing those that will put him on a record without defeats, different from the generation that founded the sport, which aimed at the challenge of fighting with the best, even not getting what they should have”, concluded the Brazilian.

Belfort's suggestion is that the two meet in an action promoted by ONE FC, Vitor's current boss, who, at the beginning of the year, announced his return to MMA, in addition to working as the company's ambassador in other countries, such as Brazil.

Vitor and 'Crazy Dog' are two of the stars who helped spread MMA around the world. With stints in the now-defunct PRIDE and UFC, the athletes made history and met in the octagon in 1998. On that occasion, the 'Phenomenon' emerged victorious over Wanderlei with a brutal knockout in just 44 seconds, which was never well digested by the Curitiba native.

Silva has not had a professional fight since his defeat to his biggest rival, Quinton jackson by Bellator, which took place in September last year.

Also coming from a setback, Vitor suffered, in his last performance, a brutal knockout against his compatriot Lyoto Machida. The event took place in May last year, at UFC 224.