Vitor Belfort interested in ‘money fight’ with Anderson Silva

Vitor Belfort turned down an offer to rematch Anderson Silva earlier this year, but is now open to facing the former UFC middleweight champion one more time inside the Octagon.

"The Phenom" was coming off a first-round win over Dan Henderson when the UFC offered him a chance to meet "The Spider" on March 5, when the event was still scheduled to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but opted to wait for a bigger match-up and work his way up towards another title shot.

Belfort ended up losing to Ronaldo Souza on May 14 in Curitiba. Silva, who was also scheduled to compete at that date, was forced out of a clash with Uriah Hall to undergo to surgery to remove his gall bladder.

"I have interest in any fight. A fight that has a meaning, but I think this would be a money fight, yes," Belfort told Combate of a rematch with Silva. "I have interest in big fights, and this would be a big fight, for sure. It has to be something that pleases all three sides: Anderson, Vitor and the UFC."

The UFC is set to return to Brazil on Sept. 24, and Belfort called it "an interesting date."

"The UFC does super fights. Like this one they did with Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor," he said. "If they want to do it, they have what it takes. I think that, in fact, it’s a matter of negotiation, and I’d say we’re also in a good phase. We did a lot for the sport and I believe this would be a good time for both of us to profit if something like this happens.

"The piece of the cake today can’t be split only for Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz. The piece of the cake also has to come to those people who did for generations and are still here. So it all depends on the negotiation."