Vitor Belfort (photo via ONE Championship)

By FCF Staff

Vitor Belfort exited the UFC having won just one of his final five fights with the promotion, and recently the legend admitted he didn’t have the “fire” to compete and was fighting out his contract.

Belfort’s final UFC bout took place in May, 2018, when he was knocked out by Lyoto Machida. Afterward, the Brazilian star announced he was retiring. But, not long after, Belfort announced he wished to fight again and he eventually signed with ONE Championship.

While speaking to MMA Fighting recently, the 43-year-old admitted that he wasn’t completely motivated to fight, during his final stretch with the UFC.

“When you lose the passion, you’ve kind of got to go away from the sport. I see a lot of people getting hurt, a lot of fighters just kind of going through the motions, and I’m not just talking about the organization, but also with yourself. Sometimes you need a break. You need time to reevaluate, or you need new challenges, and sometimes what the company needs is different than what the fighter needs. I know to make your name you’ve got to work for the company. I feel like I did, but the company needs someone, and I was in another ‘season,’ so I think I was just going through my contract. It’s not the fault of the company; it was my fault, has nothing to do with the company.”

“I think I kind of violated the commitment with myself,” Belfort said. “My fire was not there, and I was living through other people’s fire, trying to say, ‘I’ll get the fire back if I hire this coach,’ or ‘I’m gonna get this guy if I do that.’ And I was always doing something to try and bring the fire back.”

Recently Belfort reported that he’s expecting to face Alain Ngalani in his ONE Championship debut.  A date and location for the fight, however, has yet to be announced.