Costa Philippou Looking for Vitor Belfort Fight Outside Of Brazil

With Vitor Belfort forced to wait on the sidelines for the title shot he believes he has rightly earned, a debate is raised about whether ‘The Phenom’ should book another fight or not. The UFC’s middleweight division will move on while the Anderson Silva/Chris Weidman situation gets sorted out, but that fact is leaving sour grapes for Belfort, whose stock probably couldn’t get much higher than it is right now.

However, there is a man that apparently is looking to fight Belfort, and it’s not Gegard Mousasi. That fighter is Costa Philippou, who was last seen beating Tim Boetsch via TKO all the way back at UFC 155. Philippou is willing to fight Belfort, but not without a specific stipulation. He discussed the bout with Ariel Helwani via Twitter:

@arielhelwani Belfort sounds good to me! NOT in Brazil!#TRT

— Costas Philippou (@Philippou185UFC) July 13, 2013

An interesting point of view for the New York-based Philippou, who obviously wants  Belfort out of his home country comfort zone where he is readily approved to use TRT. It’s hard to argue that TRT hasn’t worked wonders for the 36-year-old Belfort’s career, as he’s most recently knocked out Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold while on the therapy.

That also can’t be the only reason attributed to all of his current success, success that has seen Belfort take to any and all forms of media to ply his case for a title shot. Problem is, it’s tough to get him licensed to fight in the United States, as NSAC Commissioner Keith Kizer has stated that Belfort would most likely not be licensed in Nevada nor granted a TUE for TRT due to his past failure for anabolic steroids.

But does a fight with Philippou do anything for Belfort other than occupy his time? After all, Philippou is one of those fighters who remains relatively unknown but presents a great amount of danger for anyone he steps in the cage with, a la TJ Grant. A win over Philippou really does nothing for Belfort’s momentum, which is at an all-time high right now.

So, should Belfort bite the bullet and take a less attractive fight, or should he wait for the winner of Weidman-Silva? That could end being a very, very long time, and Belfort’s window to gain another UFC title may be closing. One thing is for sure, he should probably root for Chris Weidman at the UFC 168 rematch. Vitor Belfort is at the same time in an enviable and unenviable position with the UFC middleweight division.