Chris Weidman Tested Four Times For UFC 187, Vitor Belfort Unknown

Out of action since a knockout win over aging veteran Dan Henderson in the main event of November 2013’s UFC Fight Night 32, controversial middleweight title contender Vitor Belfort has gone through a veritable gauntlet of challenges (some by his own doing, of course) to make his oft-scheduled bout with middleweight champion Chris Weidman actually happen.

After it was scrapped in early 2014 when “The Phenom” failed a drug test in the wake of Nevada and the UFC’s banning of his lambasted testosterone-replacement therapy (TRT), Belfort weaned himself off of the treatment in an effort to get licensed to fight in Vegas once again.

Last July 23, Belfort was granted his license to face Weidman at December 2014’s UFC 181 on the condition that he would submit to and pass increased testing for his past failures. The bout subsequently fell apart when Weidman required surgery for a hand injury. It was rescheduled for February 28’s UFC 184 from Los Angeles, but again fell apart when Weidman injured his rib in training.

It’s now been rescheduled for a fourth time in the co-main event of May 23’s UFC 187, and although the card has been ripped apart by various circumstances, somehow Weidman vs. Belfort remains intact for the time being. What is uncertain, however, is just how many times Belfort has been randomly tested for the fight.

Detailing the situation on UFC Tonight, Ariel Helwani stated that Weidman has been randomly tested four times, but Belfort’s situation is quite a bit murkier:

“May 23 rapidly approaching, Chris Weidman told me that he has been randomly tested by the Nevada Athletic Commission four times leading up to this fight with Vitor Belfort. Two times urine, two times blood. I asked Nevada, ‘How many times have you randomly tested Vitor Belfort?’

“The deferred me to the UFC, who then deferred me back to Nevada. I asked Vitor; he wouldn’t respond. So I know that Chris has been tested four times; I don’t know how many times Vitor has been. I find that interesting because Nevada said they would test him a heck of a lot leading up to this fight, and right now we don’t have that answer. I thought it would be important to pass that along.”

Indeed that is a curious predicament, but it’s also a confusing one in that Belfort claimed he had been randomly tested seven times for his previously scheduled UFC 184 bout with Weidman. He was of course on the other side of the coin suggesting that Weidman should be tested as often as he was.

Now we learn that it’s confirmed that Weidman has been tested multiple times, while it’s unknown whether or not known PED user Belfort has been. That’s an unfortunate situation for the UFC, who are supposedly trying to clean up their rampant steroid problem that currently plagues the sport of MMA.

With the black shadow of steroid use always hanging heavy over “The Phenom’s” head, you’d think they’d want to make certain that Belfort was receiving and passing his necessary drug tests.