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On Saturday night at UFC 224, MMA legend Vitor Belfort stepped out of the Octagon for the final time. After suffering a brutal front-kick knockout at the feet of Lyoto Machida, Belfort took off his gloves and left them in the center of the cage, signifying his retirement from MMA. And while most fans marvel at Belfort’s incredible longevity in the sport - Belfort made his first appearance at UFC 12 back in 1996! - others are just happy to see him go, chief among them, former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping.
On the most recent edition of his Believe You Me podcast, Bisping discussed the final fight of Belfort’s career, saying it was “very satisfying” to see the former light heavyweight champion go out flat out on his back.
“It’s very satisfying to see him lose if I’m honest,” Bisping said. “I don’t care for the guy. I think he’s built a career off being a cheat. The amount of insane steroids that he’s done over his life, over his career, is evident to see. I mean you go back and look at him in his early career, the guy was insanely jacked. When we fought he was insanely jacked, and now you look at him and he looks like a f**king beat up old man, and he’s getting knocked out like so and he’s performing like so. When he was juiced out of his mind, [he was] just f**king tearing through everybody.”
Bisping and Belfort fought at UFC on FX 7. Belfort knocked Bisping out with a headkick but Bisping maintains that Belfort came into the fight with an unfair advantage since Belfort was on testosterone replacement therapy. For his part, Belfort was on TRT but had a medical exemption for the treatment which was perfectly legal under the rules at that time. Regardless, the headkick Belfort landed ended up detaching Bisping’s retina and causing permanent damage to that eye. It’s something Bisping has never forgiven Belfort for and at least plays some part in why Bisping was happy to see Belfort “get what he deserved.”
“He has the hypocrisy to go out and talk about being a good person and this and that,” Bisping said. “The guy’s a cheat, the guy has no honor. I would have loved to have been the person to do that, but it’s kind of still enjoyable to see him get what he deserves because he’s gone out and done that to many people and caused injuries. He f**ked up my eyeball, he’s the one to blame for that, so yeah. God bless Machida. Job well done.”
Bisping has not fought since his knockout loss to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Shanghai and does not appear likely to compete again, saying that he is essentially retired.
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VIDEO STEW
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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Gotta respect a guy who got obliterated in 3 minutes still talking trash. And then getting obliterated again on social media.
@MightyMouseUFC
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) May 16, 2018
1)Lowest PPV in UFC history✅
2)Lowest Title fight gate✅
3)play video games all day✅
4)Haven’t fought for 8 months ✅
5)great fighter but nobody cares to watch him and I will kill the mouse @Mickmaynard2 @danawhite
I clocked all those hours in gaming and still worked you ass!
— Demetrious Johnson (@MightyMouseUFC) May 16, 2018
When we fought, you fought a wrestler. You know and I know I’m going to knock your block off next time we fight. Get your shit together let’s do this. Finally people talking about you since I tweeted you. You’re welcome
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) May 17, 2018
sorry busy......playing choi
— Demetrious Johnson (@MightyMouseUFC) May 17, 2018
I was being told DJ overplayed his hand, they asked him to fight in August he said no and now he’s trying to get on again because he knows he can’t sell his own PPV and want to make money off others. Fact. #makeyourownmoney https://t.co/QL65Ox9OUp
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) May 16, 2018
And one more thing that’s being discussed. If benevidez gets a win there will be an interim title fight. Here you go mr @arielhelwani https://t.co/fiLZqbZhlR
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) May 16, 2018
That being said, holy s**t.
Feeling slighted.
6 wins in a row. Undefeated since 2015. 10 victories in Bellator heavyweight competition. But still not enough to get a title shot... Wow pic.twitter.com/qnfHwuVovX
— Cheick Kongo (@kongo4real) May 16, 2018
Give me half of his promotional push and I’ll give you double the ratings. We all know I already draw more ratings than him without that. And if we count worldwide, oh boy. @ScottCoker https://t.co/gwQuumsMri
— Patricio Freire (@PatricioPitbull) May 16, 2018
Feels like Sage is probably done with lightweight.
July 14th! Fighting 170lbs pic.twitter.com/rMtrGA6qHl
— Sage Northcutt (@sagenorthcutt) May 16, 2018
Pico looks like a child here.
Got to meet the The Real Deal! Excited to watch the fights here at @TheContender @paramountnet @BellatorMMA pic.twitter.com/k5bWxLiJA0
— Aaron Pico (@AaronPicoUSA) May 17, 2018
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
N/A.
TODAY IN MMA HISTORY
1996: Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock put on one of the worst fights in MMA history when they fought to a tepid split decision at UFC 9. This event is notable for being the first UFC event to eschew the tournament style format.
2014: Bellator MMA held their inaugural pay-per-view event, featuring the light heavyweight tournament final between Quinton Jackson and Muhammed Lawal, an interim lightweight title bout between Michael Chandler and Will Brooks, and the Bellator debut of Tito Ortiz.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Take it easy and see y’all tomorrow.
EXIT POLL
Poll
Should Vitor Belfort be a Hall of Famer?
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