Report: Vitor Belfort Has Green Light to Fight in Brazil
By FCF Staff
Although it remains to be seen when Vitor Belfort will fight again, the middleweight contender has reportedly been cleared by Brazilian authorities to compete in the South American nation.
Belfort was scheduled to fight champion Chris Weidman at UFC 173 later this month, but after the Nevada State Athletic Commission banned testosterone-replacement-therapy, the veteran withdrew from the fight. While Belfort remains an unlicensed fighter in Nevada, the Brazilian Athletic Commission’s Dr. Marcio Tannure has relayed to MMA Fighting.com that:
“He can fight here, no problem, but he can’t use TRT,” said Tannure “Since he doesn’t have a license to use TRT anymore, he would be tested like any other fighter.”
Recently Belfort announced that he’s ready to fight again, after ending his TRT treatments, and that he believes he should fight Weidman at UFC 175. UFC President Dana White has argued, however, that Belfort “has a lot of work to do” in terms of getting licensed to compete in Nevada.
Lyoto Machida is scheduled to face Weidman at UFC 175, which will go down July 5th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.