With One Fight Left on Contract, Vitor Belfort Wants to End Career at UFC 212 in Rio
Vitor Belfort knows the end of his mixed martial arts career is close, and he has a pretty good idea of where and when he’d like his swan song to be.
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“I have one more fight in my contract,” Belfort said. “I would very much like it it to be in Rio. Defeat is part of the job, it was not a nice night for me.”
Belfort is referring to the UFC 212, which takes place on June 3 as
HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro and is headlined by a featherweight
title tilt between Jose Aldo and
Max
Holloway. Should his request be granted, Belfort confirmed that
he would he would not seek another UFC contract after that
bout.
“I really want to finish my career as a professional athlete,” he said. “This year marks 20 years of my career since I won the belt.”
However, Belfort would stick around if the UFC were to create a so-called “Legends” division, which he already proposed prior to Saturday night. The 39-year-old already has several ideas in place for such a league, including three-minute rounds, no knees or elbows and 90 seconds in between periods. Additionally, he said there would be three weight classes in the division: light, medium and heavy.
“I’m sure if the legends division were to happen in the UFC, it would revolutionize the sport,” he said.
For now, Belfort is simply focused on finishing out his career in the current version of the UFC. While some have proposed a rematch with Anderson Silva in Rio de Janeiro, Belfort would rather not face one of his countrymen in his final Octagon appearance.
“I don’t want to fight in Rio against a Brazilian on the last fight of my contract,” he said.
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