Journalist says Belfort canceled interview to avoid questions about doping

Vitor (photo) will face D. Henderson in São Paulo. Photo: Disclosure

This Monday (26), what was supposed to be just another interview in the career of Vitor belfort became a huge controversy. This is because the Brazilian would have canceled his participation moments before the program aired because his demand to avoid the topic of doping in the conversation had not been met.

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The complaint was made by American journalist Ariel Helwani, who runs the program “The MMA Hour”. According to Helwani, Belfort's wife and manager, Joana Prado, sent an email with several demands about the interview, which included the removal of topics related to doping and TRT from the agenda. Given the conditions, the journalist rejected the interview and exposed the story on social media, publishing the emails he exchanged with Joanna.

Neither Vitor nor his advisors have publicly commented on the matter so far. The Brazilian faces Dan Henderson on November 7th, in the main fight of UFC Sao Paulo, at the Ibirapuera Gymnasium. Check out the transcript of the emails released by Helwani on the “MMA Fighting” website below:

Ariel Helwani: “I give you my word that I will be fair and I hope this means a lot to you. I will not cause any damage (to Vitor’s image).”

Joana Prado: “Okay, but please no questions about 'Deadspin' (a publication that recently published an article about an alleged case of doping by Vitor omitted by the UFC before the fight against Jon Jones), TRT or past TRT results. Vitor is giving you his valuable time. I am sure we can count on you.”

AH: “This is the first interview since the Josh Gross report (on 'Deadspin') was published. So, if this topic is not addressed, even in a small way, it will not be good for me or Vitor. I don’t want to create controversy about this, but it is something that needs to be addressed.”

JP: “If Vitor had something to say about this, he would have said it already. You asked me when the site published the information and we didn't give you a word. I'm sorry, Ariel, but if you were to ask about this, then, unfortunately, Vitor won't be able to talk to you.”