Wanderlei Silva Says He Returned To MMA To Fight Vitor Belfort
Late last month (June 24, 2017), Wanderlei Silva made his return to mixed martial arts in the main event of Bellator: NYC from Madison Square Garden. After having not competed in over four years, Silva took on longtime rival Chael Sonnen, but he dropped a unanimous decision loss to “The American Gangster”.
Immediately after the fight, Silva expressed interest in a rematch with Sonnen, but “The Axe Murderer” recently said that he returned to fighting for a rematch with Vitor Belfort:
“I started fighting again to fight Belfort,” Silva told MMA Brasil (via Bloody Elbow). “I wanted to fight Sonnen and I did that. But what I really want is to fight Belfort. He’s the one I want to put my hands on. And he better not come up with any broken hand excuses this time around.”
The two first fought back in 1998 when Belfort scored a TKO victory over Silva. They then coach against each other on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil in 2012, but Belfort was forced to pull out of the rematch with a broken hand.
Belfort has hit some rough times over the last few years, going just 1-3-1 before scoring a unanimous decision victory over Nate Marquardt at UFC 212 last month. The fight marked the last on Belfort’s contract with the UFC and he planned on retiring after it, but then change his tune on his future.
Perhaps Belfort could end up signing with Bellator where a rematch between him and Silva could take a place.
