Vitor Belfort States He’s ‘Clean,’ Wants His Title Shot At UFC 175

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQdokDanRpyCMnTNVHGgDJIcyLfpp5CpLUYCXK6ZO6tP08lDQvIGAUFC middleweight and number two ranked contender, Vitor Belfort, has had his fair share of highs and lows over the last few months.

At the beginning of February it was announced that the 37 year old Brazilian fighter had been granted a title shot against division champion Chris Weidman, and that the two would square off in Las Vegas on May 24th. However, shortly after the brad’s official notice of the fight the Nevada State Athletic Commission banned the use of TRT, and with that, the promotion quickly scratched Belfort from the UFC 173 event. As “The Phenom” was using testosterone replacement therapy at the time, the UFC came to the conclusion that Belfort was too great a risk to place on the card, and subsequently replaced him with Lyoto Machida.   

However, since all of this happened much has changed. Weidman went down with a knee injury and was forced to scratch for next month’s card. His bout with Machida was then changed to July 5th and UFC 175. And this past week, UFC President Dana White affirmed that Belfort would be the next middleweight challenger. That is if the fighter is cleared by NSAC.

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Regarding the point, Belfort has today told MMAFighting.com that he is now clean of synthetic testosterone. Having begun his 90 day TRT clean out sometime in May, “The Phenom” is claiming that he has had himself tested, and that the test results demonstrate him as being free of TRT. As this is the case, and that the title fight that was taken away from his was moved in terms of its date, Belfort now wants to replace Machida as Weidman’s UFC 175 opponent.

Belfort’s words:

“I did all the tests that Nevada requires. I did it on my own and I passed them all. There is nothing in my system, anymore. God has blessed me. I’m ready now and I’m waiting. Since they canceled (Weidman vs. Machida) in May there is nothing else to do. Give me what is mine.”

In terms of his application to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Belfort stated that he will be doing that “soon” and that he’s “doing everything by the rules.”

As Belfort sees it, TRT was used as an “excuse” by his opponents to explain away their losses to him, and now that he’s off the treatment, his rivals will no longer be able to hide behind his use of it as an explanation of his beating them in the Octagon.  

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His words:

“Everything was an excuse to my opponents, and they won’t have it anymore. It’s the opposite now, they will be at an advantage. (I used) TRT to be at their levels. They will lose now and won’t have any excuses.”

Regarding Belfort replacing Machida at UFC 175 – and given that he passes NSAC’s tests – it’s hard to see how Dana White will mess with an already assigned card. Yes, circumstances have changed, and yes, White has reaffirmed Belfort’s title shot, and yes Belfort is ranked above Machida in the welterweight standings. However, the UFC has committed to the Weidman vs. Machida match, and with that probably a great deal of money and effort. As such, it would be hard to imagine the promotion making the decision to yank Machida in favor of Belfort, and regardless of Belfort getting an NSAC license in time for the July event.

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