Vitor Belfort Addresses Decision To Retire After UFC 224
Vitor Belfort is calling it a career after his next fight.
Belfort is expected to face former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida at the upcoming UFC 224 pay-per-view event. This will serve as his retirement fight.
If you recall, just back in January, he was slated to fight middleweight star Uriah Hall in a middleweight bout at UFC St. Louis, which would’ve marked Belfort’s retirement fight. However, that wasn’t the case.
It’s been well documented that Hall had a seizure as a result of a bad weight cut that ultimately led to him being hospitalized.
Belfort addressed his decision to retire from the sport in a recent interview with MMAJunkie.
“What have we learned from this? So many things,” Belfort said. “Now all that’s left is looking forward. The fight is here. It’s a great opponent. In a way, things were even better. God was so good to me that they gave me a better opponent. A better location. That’s what life is made of: using the stones in our way to help shape our way.”
“It’s what I said: in reality, it will be my final fight and my journey is ending,” Belfort said. “But nothing that a good contract – what, seven digits? – can’t do in terms of helping us return. I’ll keep training. I love doing this. But there needs to be a meaning. There needs to be a purpose and it needs to be something that makes sense.”
“In reality, I never stop,” Belfort said. “I’m always sticking to my routine. I train, I have Belfort Lifestyle Fitness now. I’m always active – always on the move.”
“I have many ideas, but I’m focused on what I have to do and on my work,” Belfort said. “That’s what I need to focus on, executing my work. I’m not worried about what’s coming from over there.”
UFC 224 is set to take place on Saturday, May 12, 2018, at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The main card will air on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will air on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET and the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass.
