Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort will compete for the final time in the promotion when he battles Nate Marquardt at UFC 212.
Belfort’s manager in Gustavo Lacerda says that Belfort wouldn’t mind facing the two men headlining Bellator 180, Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen.
"What I think it’s possible to imagine is: what does the MMA fan wants?” Lacerda said on the MMA Ganhador podcast. "He wants to see Vitor vs. Wanderlei (Silva), wants to see Vitor vs. (Chael) Sonnen. He wants these type of fights. And it’s the type of fights that interests us. Vitor doesn’t need to prove anything regarding to ranking or title. The idea is to have fights that are interesting. Interest the fans, and interest the fighter. I’m particularly crazy to see Vitor vs. Wanderlei. It’s a fight I pay to see. There are fights people want to see, and those are the fights that are interesting. Where it will be, and how it will be, I can’t say anything right now. But they might happen."
The Brazilian has fought Silva before, but he has yet to fight Chael Sonnen.
No matter who Belfort fights next, the fighters manager wants MMA fans to know that the fire has been lit in him to compete again.
"Technically and physically, Vitor has full conditions to continue fighting,” Lacerda said. "Of course, he has the hormonal deficiency everybody knows… But I think he lit up his fire again. We’ll go fight by fight. First, we’ll think about his fight with Nate Marquardt, and then we have more good things ahead."
UFC 212 takes place on Saturday, June 3 from the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil with Jose Aldo and Max Holloway headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
