Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort inked a fight deal with the UFC and was immediately given a main event fight against Rich “Ace” Franklin at UFC 103. Due to his superb performance and his knockout victory over Franklin, UFC President Dana White announced an immediate title fight between Belfort and current UFC middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva.
Many MMA fans were confused with the announcement, especially since Dana White had already promised Dan Henderson first dibs on Silva. Nate “The Great” Marquardt was supposedly next in line after Henderson, but his name wasn’t even mentioned either.
As of right now, Belfort is slated to fight “The Spider” as part of the UFC 108 main event. In a recent interview, Belfort explains how he isn’t ready for Silva yet.
From Vitor Belfort:
“This thing of fighting Anderson is something that I’ve never looked for. I care about him a lot, but started that thing of Dana White talks… I don’t care about fighting for the title, I want to do some more fights. I don’t have this ambition of fighting him (Anderson) now, I didn’t get in UFC looking for it, to take his belt… I never had that thing, I just want to do my work…I know I deserve, that’s not the problem, neither the discussion, I just like to make some fights. The belt’s moment is gonna come, there are people that want to talk that I don’t deserve, but I don’t believe that. Anderson is not a guy that I want to fight, I support him a lot, we already trained together, I like him a lot. It’s not a thing that I want to… If the belt were on Nate Marquardt’s hands, if I could choose, I wouldn’t fight with Anderson because I care about him.”
