Belfort (photo via UFC.com)

By FCF Staff

Vitor Belfor will no longer fight middleweight champion Chris Weidman on May 24th at UFC 173, and the contender has posted another statement explaining why the NSAC’s ban of TRT has prompted the change.

Belfort posted the following statement on his Instagram account on Saturday, which is attributed to his “doctor.” The name of the physician was not included.

Vitor Belfort’s TRT have always been a medical decision aimed to health improvement.
The same treatment strategy is available and widely prescribed to every patient who makes the decision to live better and healthier life through their natural ageing proccess.
Any performance advantage results not from the use of medication, but from the athlete’s unshaken discipline and absolute dedication to an extremely demanding training routine, impecable nutrition and resting.
In the name of his passion for the sport and dedication to his fans, my patient made the decision to interrupt his health treatment.
We are going to need 90 days to adapt Vitor’s treatment and nutrition in order to support his extremely hard training routine – This is what makes Vitor one of the best fighters on UFC history and the most dedicated athlete I’ve ever had the honor to work with

With Belfort no longer able to commit to a May 24th bout with Weidman, Lyoto Machida will challenge for the title at UFC 173, which will be hosted by the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Following the NSAC’s ruling earlier this week, Belfort announced that he will be ending his TRT program. The 36 year-old fighter had locked up a title fight with Weidman by scoring three consecutive stoppage wins.