Time will tell who Vitor Belfort will face in what proves to be his final fight in the UFC, but if fellow UFC middleweight Elias Theodorou does end up being the opponent, Theodorou threw some early verbal bombs in Belfort's direction. In the latest episode of his exclusive podcast here at Fightful.com, Theodorou had some fun at the expense of Belfort, whose physique had changed noticeably in recent years.
Theodorou said the following about Belfort:
"He's a deflated 50-year-old surfer without his Mexican supplements. ... all the respect to Vitor, he's a champion and he's definitely, he's the kind of fighter who has reinvented himself many times over -- one might say for particular reasons that were helping."
Belfort, who has a 25-14 record as a professional, lost by first-round TKO to Kelvin Gastelum last weekend at UFC Fight Night 106. After the fight, Belfort said he would compete just once more in the UFC. Belfort also is known for being linked with testosterone replacement therapy; he withdrew from a scheduled fight against then-UFC champion Chris Weidman in Nevada in 2014 after the state of Nevada's athletic commission banned fighters using TRT. Belfort failed a random drug test in February of that year.
"He's a little bit slower than he used to be -- or a lot," added Theodorou, who welcomed the chance to face either Belfort or Rashad Evans, both of whom have lost their past two fights. "The body's not there [for Belfort]. Hmmm? Why? Him and Rashad ... they are former champions, they are people that I respect, they are people who brought me into this sport as a fan and a fighter, so it'd be an honor to fight either one of them."
The card for UFC Fight Night 106 also saw Shogun Rua TKO Gian Villante in the first round, and Theodorou also had some fun at the expense of Ruo, referring to his physique as "dad bod central".
"He's in, many ways, not necessarily the picturesque [vision] of a professional athlete. Even someone like Gian Villante, who is not ginormous, who is not completely vascular and overly muscular, but he is an athlete who's been wrestling for X amount of years. Shogun showed he's got more fight in him. He's always got more fight in him."
A former UFC and PRIDE champion with a professional record dating back to 2002, Rua has 35 pro fights under his belt. The win over Villante marked his third straight victory after losing four of the previous five.
"That's what Shogun does," Theodorou said. "For the last, I want to say the last 3-4 years, he's won two, lost one. Won one, lost two. I'm not taking anything away from him, it's a huge fight against someone on the upswing."
Later, Theodorou pondered whether Shogun was "too tough for his own good."
Watch the entire episode, embedded above.
