Vitor Belfort: That Belt Belongs To Me, Be Ready

Former UFC Light-Heavyweight boss Vitor Belfort is 17 years deep in to his career and still making waves. ‘The Phenom’ has scored three huge knockouts this year and is now pegged to face the winner of UFC 168’s title rematch between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman.

One interesting fact about Belfort is that he has only ever lost to Champions during his MMA career, although some were not in title fights, all of Belfort’s blemishes have come to past, present or future champs of major promotions. Belfort was on hand to talk with USAToday.com about his current standing and more:

“I don’t care who will win on Saturday, because whoever wins will already be preparing to lose, that belt belongs to me. I wanted the opportunity to fight for the belt, and here I am. The one thing the fans wanted to see is me getting the title shot. Now I am more than ready to be a world champion in another division.”

Belfort’s recent run of form has certainly caught the attention of the MMA world, but is it enough to regain a major title? You’d have to consider that Belfort has already lost to one half of the top end at 185lbs., but I’d say if anyone can do it, it’s probably Vitor.

The Brazilian’s crushing knockout power and lightning speed is enough to take anyone out, and that includes Silva/Weidman in my opinion. The days of me believing that a certain fighter is immune to knockouts are long gone. Anything can happen in MMA.

“I don’t like this little word ‘if,'” Belfort said. “If we start adding ‘if, if, if,’ that means I wouldn’t conquer anything completely. The sweet feeling is knowing that nobody gave me anything for free. I paid the price and made my way here.”

“I have the most loyal fans that have been with me since I was 19 years old, when I was just a young guy becoming a world champion,” Belfort said. “I would like to say thank you to all of them. We are about to get another amazing year. Be ready, because I am.”

Belfort’s interviews often seem bizarre, but he is clearly confident in his skills set. It looks like the top end at 185 is just as congested as ever, I’m interested to see how 2014 plays out for the top five at MW, but even more hyped for UFC 168 on Saturday.