Belfort vs. Sonnen To Be Contested At Middleweight, Title Shot Only On The Line for ‘Phenom’
Even though Wanderlei Silva appears to be making a last-ditch effort to show up for his long awaited grudge match with Chael Sonnen at UFC 175, a potential bout pitting ‘The American Gangster’ vs. No. 2-ranked middleweight Vitor Belfort is still on the table.
While news came Wednesday that Belfort vs. Sonnen would be contested at light heavyweight with the winner getting a middleweight title shot at the winner of Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida (also at UFC 175), the situation has not surprisingly been changed.
UFC President Dana White just confirmed to MMAFighting.com that Belfort vs. Sonnen will be contested at middleweight. The fight is still conditional upon Belfort getting licensed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) on June 17, the same board that Silva ran afoul of last Saturday night (May 24, 2014).
And while many feathers were ruffled when it was insinuated that Sonnen, who hasn’t notched a win at middleweight since he beat Michael Bisping with a controversial decision at UFC on FOX 2 back in January 2012, would leapfrog fighters like “Jacare” Souza and Luke Rockhold by defeating Belfort, that isn’t necessarily the case either.
When questioned about the title shot allegedly on the line between Belfort and Sonnen, White simply replied: “for Vitor it is.”
Well, that certainly makes more sense.
This whole mess was set into motion when Belfort was forced out of his UFC 173 match with Weidman after the NSAC and UFC outlawed testosterone-replacement therapy (TRT). Belfort has since been submitting (and passing) weekly drug tests in an effort to ironically fight on the same card as the champion he is attempting to face off against.
That may end up happening if he gets past Sonnen, who has lost three out of four to top competition. But with UFC 175 just over a month away, both fighters should probably start cutting weight today.
Stay tuned to LowKick MMA for more on this developing whirlwind of news as arises.
