This Week’s MMA Birthdays: Vitor Belfort Turns 37

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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight titleholder Vitor Belfort will celebrate his 37th birthday on April 1.

Belfort last appeared at UFC Fight Night 32 in November, when he knocked out Dan Henderson with a first-round head kick at the Goiania Arena in Goiania, Brazil. The victory came on the heels of back-to-back finishes against “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 3 winner Michael Bisping and onetime Strikeforce champion Luke Rockhold, leaving “The Phenom” as the No. 1 contender at 185 pounds. However, his controversial use of testosterone replacement therapy and the landmark Nevada Athletic Commission ban on TRT resulted in his being removed from a UFC 173 main event with middleweight boss Chris Weidman, scheduled for May 24 in Las Vegas. The match would have afforded Belfort the opportunity to become just the third two-division titleholder in UFC history, along with Randy Couture and B.J. Penn.

A black belt in judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Belfort has rattled off 10 wins in his last 12 appearances, losing only to Anderson Silva and Jon Jones.

Those in MMA celebrating a birthday during the week covering March 30-April 5:

MARCH 30

Bibiano Fernandes (34)
Melvin Guillard (31)
Rasul Mirzaev (28)
Dan Lauzon (26)

MARCH 31

Naoya Ogawa (46)
Reese Andy (41)
Rich Clementi (37)
James Zikic (37)
Mike Kyle (34)
Marloes Coenen (33)
Ayaka Hamasaki (32)
Fabio Silva (32)
David Parker (29)
Frank Gomez (28)

APRIL 1

Vitor Belfort (37)

APRIL 2

Luiz Cane (33)
Cole Konrad (30)
Yi-Sak Kim (28)

APRIL 3

Chael Sonnen (37)
Kazunori Yokota (36)
Travis Reddinger (32)

APRIL 4

Ray Mercer (53)
Stephan Bonnar (37)
Brian Foster (30)

APRIL 5

James Wilks (36)

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