Belfort: I’m the guy who has saved many events
Vitor Belfort: “I’m the type of fighter, the way I please Dana is with my attitude. I always step up. I’m the guy who has saved many events. I’ve been doing this for a long time.”
When Chris Weidman was injured and unable to compete at UFC 184, Vitor Belfort had the option to fight someone else, but it didn’t work out. From his point of view, Belfort believed the big fight was Chris Weidman and he chose to wait and let that fight happen:
“I think the injury wasn’t big enough, so the coaches, with my office, they decided let’s wait for Chris,” Belfort said. “[I’ve] been waiting for a year. This is a fight the fans want to see. And look at the card. The card is amazing.”
Indeed, everyone at UFC 187 stands to make a lot of money if they have pay-per-view points in their contract. Jon Jones defends his light heavyweight title in the main event against Anthony Johnson, plus the Weidman-Belfort co-headliner and a lightweight title eliminator between Donald Cerrone and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
UFC president Dana White took a minor dig at Belfort during the press conference saying he gets emotional about business situations.
“One little thing goes wrong and Vitor goes crazy,” White said.
Belfort (24-10) didn’t take it as an insult, because he’s comfortable with his history. He’s the same guy who moved up to light heavyweight to fight Jones at UFC 152 three years ago when seemingly no one else would.
“That shows me that I stand for my rights,” said Belfort, who has won three straight and five of his last six. “I’m the type of fighter, the way I please Dana is with my attitude. I always step up. I’m the guy who has saved many events. I’ve been doing this for a long time.”