UFC roundup: Bisping rips Belfort for wanting to fight CM Punk

Michael-Bisping-Vitor-Belfort

Michael Bisping, left, was knocked out by Vitor Belfort, right, when they met in 2013. (Andre Penner/AP)

Vitor Belfort is less than two weeks removed from a crushing TKO loss to Kelvin Gastelum. The 39-year-old has one fight remaining on his UFC contract and says unless the UFC creates some type of legends division it will be the last fight of his career.

“It’s time to end this chapter as a professional fighter,” Belfort told reporters in Fortaleza, Brazil following his loss to Gastelum. “My body is not the same anymore for training. It’s too much pain. I did more than 14 surgeries [in my career]. I left everything in the Octagon.”

In a recent interview with AG Fight, the 39-year-old expressed interest in his final fight taking place at UFC 212 on June 3 in Rio de Janeiro, so he can compete in front of his compatriots. He mentioned he wants the fight to take place in the 205-pound division after competing primarily at 185 pounds since 2011. He also wants to fight a notable opponent—just not a top-ranked one.

Belfort has fought the best of the best throughout his 20-year career but time has caught up with him. He has lost three consecutive fights by TKO, all to high-level competition. He was stopped consecutively by Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Gegard Mousasi prior to Gastelum and wants to walk away from the sport with one last victory.

“It would have to be an interesting fighter, but not a top fighter,” Belfort said. “I’ve been fighting good guys before: Dan Henderson, [Chris] Weidman, Dan Henderson, Jacare, Mousasi and now Kelvin. These are all hard fights, so if you can book a smoother fight. What’s the name of that guy from WWE? CM Punk would be a good fight. CM Punk, let’s get it on. That would be a really good fight.”

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Belfort’s callout of CM Punk has led to some backlash since even at this advanced stage of his career a bout with CM Punk wouldn’t be competitive. The former WWE superstar has just one professional fight under his belt and it was a one-sided beat-down at the hands of Mickey Gall.

“This is a sign of the [expletive] that Vitor Belfort is,” UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping said on his Believe You Me podcast. “This is the sign of a [expletive] that takes [expletive] steroids his entire career. If you take steroids, you are a [expletive] [expletive] because you’re so mentally weak that you feel that you can’t go out there and fight these people on a level playing field because you’re gonna get your ass kicked.”

For years, Belfort had a therapeutic use exemption for testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) and many of his victories are tainted in hindsight because TRT has since been banned by athletic commissions. Bisping has held a grudge against Belfort ever since they fought in 2013 as Belfort went on an incredible win streak where he knocked out Bisping, Luke Rockhold and Dan Henderson with head kicks while on TRT.

“If you need those advantages then you are a coward, you’re a [expletive] [expletive], and you are a cheat, and the very fact that somebody would take steroids their entire career, then get their ass kicked, then call out CM Punk, I’m not surprised,” Bisping added. “It’s as simple as that and that just speaks volumes to the character and the level of a man that Vitor Belfort is.”

WSOF champ Branch returning to UFC

World Series of Fighting middleweight and light-heavyweight champion David Branch is heading back to the UFC. Branch went 2-2 in the UFC from 2010-2011 before being released by the promotion. Since then the 35-year-old has won 12 of 13 fights with his lone loss during that stretch being a unanimous decision to Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in 2012.

Branch (20–3) is currently riding a 10-fight winning streak, which includes victories over former WEC champion Paulo Filho and former UFC title challenger Yushin Okami. He is set to fight Krzysztof Jotko at UFC 211 in Dallas on May 13.

UFC 210 finalizes 13-bout card

The UFC has locked in the bout order for UFC 210, which takes place April 8 in Buffalo. It is as follows:

MAIN CARD
— Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson
— Gegard Mousasi vs. Chris Weidman
— Cynthia Calvillo vs. Pearl Gonzalez
— Thiago Alves vs. Patrick Cote
— Will Brooks vs. Charles Oliveira

PRELIMINARY CARD
— Mike De La Torre vs. Myles Jury
— Sean Strickland vs. Kamaru Usman
— Shane Burgos vs. Charles Rosa
— Jan Blachowicz vs. Patrick Cummins
— Josh Emmett vs. Desmond Green
— Gregor Gillespie vs. Andrew Holbrook
— Irene Aldana vs. Katlyn Chookagian
— Magomed Bibulatov vs. Jenel Lausa

Andrade gets handed two-year ban for steroids

We won’t be seeing UFC welterweight Viscardi Andrade in the Octagon for at least another year. The Brazilian received a two-year ban, the United States Anti-Doping Agency announced Tuesday. The sanction is a result of the 33-year-old testing positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol during an out-of-competition test. The suspension is retroactive to March 20, 2016, the last time he competed.

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