Belfort intends to continue fighting in the UFC (Photo: Buda Mendes/UFC)
Even focused on the last fight of his contract with Ultimate, which takes place at UFC 212 this Saturday (3), Vitor belfort already thinking about the future. And, after facing Nate Marquardt, the Brazilian's idea is to continue in the organization where he debuted in 1997, at 19 years old. The Phenomenon, who even announced his retirement after the fight in Rio, guarantees that the period of training for the fight against the North American “rekindled his flame”.
What's more: Belfort already has an idea for his next Ultimate fight. Upon learning that Chuck Liddell was thinking about returning from retirement, the former light heavyweight champion admitted that he would like a rematch with his rival, also the former owner of the 93 kg belt. of Ultimate, it would be a natural next step.
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“That’s just a rumor, I don’t intend to leave. I found out that Chuck Liddell wants to fight again, I have this idea of creating the legends category, I think it could be a great rematch in the UFC, because I think I won the first fight and they gave it to him. (…) I see a lot of future within the UFC, not only as a fighter, you know what I did as a fighter, I feel privileged to have helped the organization get to where it is today, but I feel like I still have a lot to be able to help, mainly in the union between the athletes and the organization”, commented the Brazilian, in an interview with the Revista Combate program.
One of the reasons Vitor wants to stay in the UFC, as a fighter or manager, is to help preserve the memory of the sport. According to Fenômeno, the new owners of Ultimate have done a great job of adding new divisions and giving more space to emerging talents, but they are failing to appreciate MMA legends.
“I'm very happy to see these new owners, together with Dana White, creating new weights, new categories, but I think it's important to value the legends, the people who did something for the sport. I think this has been lacking a lot within the UFC. (…) I, together with this organization, which I helped to grow and found, left a great legacy for the athletes, but I think I still have a lot to donate. (…) I see the UFC investing a lot in infrastructure, in this new office. Who knows, maybe I might work there in the future. I always had this dream of seeing sport as more than just entertainment. We need to see sport becoming sport. Today I see this a lot, the UFC having to fight with this”, he concluded.
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