V. Belfort (photo) faces Weidman in December. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC
The director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, Francisco Aguilar, explained the reasons why the entity granted the Vitor belfort the license to fight in the state, enabling combat between the Brazilian and Chris Weidman in Las Vegas on December 6th.
According to Aguilar, Belfort presented good arguments in his defense at the hearing held last Wednesday (23), which convinced the entity of the fighter's good faith.
MORE ABOUT THE BELFORT CASE:
Belfort receives license to fight in Las Vegas
Chris Weidman x Vitor Belfort will be the main fight of UFC 181
Released to fight, Belfort celebrates: 'We won the belt'
'I wanted to fight in Las Vegas to stop the talk', says Belfort
“Belfort underwent a surprise drug test in February, but he had not yet applied for his license when he took the test. Still, Vitor ended up losing a fight in May and another in July and is now asking to fight in Nevada in December. As for the punishments discussed today, I don't think Vitor was punished. He accepted his responsibility for his actions and application for the license. He came to us with a reasonable request and, when that request is sensible, we look at the effort the athlete is making to cooperate with our rules”, explained Aguilar, in an interview with the “Combate” channel website.
With this, Belfort will be able to fight for the UFC middleweight belt, in the main fight of the 181st event. This will be Weidman's fourth consecutive fight against a Brazilian, as he comes from two victories over Anderson Silva and one about Lyoto Machida.
Comments