UFC director confirms that Belfort denied rematch with Anderson

Anderson (left) and Belfort (right) faced each other in 2011. Photo: Disclosure/UFC

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The so-called “Fight of the Century”, between Anderson Silva e Vitor belfort, did not win his rematch on Brazilian soil in 2016. The director of the UFC in Brazil, Giovani Decker, confirmed that it was the organization's intention to marry the fight, but the “Phenomenon” denied the offer.

According to Decker, the plan consisted of holding the rematch at the Arena da Baixada stadium, in Curitiba, but Belfort did not accept it as his focus was on fighting for the middleweight belt. “We were unable to close the agreement with the Vitor belfort – Anderson agreed to do the fight, but Vitor preferred to wait and see what would happen in the fight between Chis Weidman and Luke Rockhold, and he ended up getting it right, because Rockhold won and asked to face him at the press conference after UFC 194, which was a good sign for him”, explained Decker, in an interview with the “Combate” channel website.

However, the manager made it clear that Belfort did not “run away” from the fight – the veteran wants a rematch, but not now. “A lot of people said that Vitor didn’t want to do this fight. That was never true. He wants it, and he made it clear that at some point it will happen, but for him, thinking about his career and what could lie ahead, at this moment, the fight didn't make sense”, he clarified.

Belfort and Anderson had the fight that boosted the popularity of MMA in Brazil. In February 2011, “Spider” retained the middleweight belt by delivering a cinematic knockout to Belfort, at UFC 126, in Las Vegas (USA).

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