Whatever happened to Vitor Belfort?

Vitor Belfort had been ranked #2 in the middleweight division before the Nevada Athletic Commission banned Testosterone Replacement Therapy, and Belfort was replaced withLyotoMachida vs. champion Chris Weidman. Now Machida has replaced him in the rankings at #2, and Belfort doesn’t understand why.

“In any sport the ranking is defined by the result of the athletes in competitions,” wrote Belfort on Facebook. “I and my team worked very hard for me to be very well placed in the UFC. For this reason, I understand that there is a lack of clarity of the UFC in the validation criterion of ranking, especially when we see athletes climb without even having competed. I was in second, drops to third place without having had fights in this interim. Clear criteria strengthen the sport.”

Belfort is currently weaning his body from TRT. His return to the Octagon has not been determined at this point.

At the UFC on FOX 11 pre fight press conference held at Shaq’s Florida mansion, UFC president Dana White was asked how Belfort was doing.

“I haven’t spoke to Vitor since that whole thing went down,” said White as transcribed by MMAFighting. 

“Like I say all the time, the media got what they want, Vitor’s gone.”

“I haven’t heard a word from him. He’s got a lot of s— to clear up. He’s got to handle that, not us.”

White was asked if Belfort remains the #1 contender.

“I don’t know, we’ll see what happens,” replied White.

The s— that White mentioned refers in part to the results of the surprise test that the NSAC administered to Belfort on Feb 7, at the 2013 World MMA Awards. The results of the test were received by the NSAC, by the UFC, and by Belfort. No one ever revealed what they do or don’t show.

Had Belfort applied for a license to fight, the NSAC would have been at liberty to disclose the results. But he did not apply, and they thus are legally prohibited from making the results public. Belfort himself could release the results of the test, but has not done so.

It is widely believed that the test on Feb. 7 come back with an elevated T/E ratio, indicating the use of TRT, which Belfort was on at the time, under the care of a doctor. However, prior to the outright ban, the NSAC did not condone the use of TRT by a fighter prior to an application for a TUE, even if one had been granted by another AC.

Thus it is possible that Belfort was in violation of NSAC requirements even before he applied, therefore could not apply for the license, and thus withdrew from the fight with Weidman that he had been advocating so hard for for the past year.

Getting back into the good graces of the NSAC, the fans, and his employers may be the hardest fight in Belfort’s professional career.

UFC middleweight rankings

Champion : Chris Weidman

1. Anderson Silva 

2. Lyoto Machida 

3. Vitor Belfort 

4. Jacare Souza 

5. Luke Rockhold 

6. Tim Kennedy 

7. Mark Munoz 

8. Michael Bisping 

9. Francis Carmont 

10. Costas Philippou