A Couple Home Tests Won't Get Vitor Belfort into UFC 175 Headliner with Chris Weidman
Vitor Belfort recently stated that he’s done all the tests that Nevada requires, he’s clean, and he’s ready to step back into a challenge of UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman.
The one thing he didn’t do, however, is all of this under the watchful eye of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
As UFC president Dana White said following Saturday night’s UFC 172 in Baltimore, that just ain’t gonna fly.
“(Vitor’s) got a lot of work to do. And that (expletive) doesn't happen just like that,” said White. “You gotta get on the agenda. He's got a lot of work to do.”
Belfort recently told MMAFighting.com that he got tested, passed them all, and is clean and ready to fight, wanting to step back into the fight with Weidman, who is now slated to defend against Lyoto Machida at UFC 175 on July 5 in Las Vegas.
“I did all the tests that Nevada requires. I did it on my own, and I passed them all,” Belfort told MMAFighting. “There is nothing in my system anymore.
“Since they canceled (Weidman vs. Machida) in May, there is nothing else to do. Give me what is mine.”
Belfort may have passed all the tests, but he admittedly did all of this on his own. He has yet to contact the Nevada commission, meet with their approved testers, and go before the commission to get a license. That is what he will need to do before he can fight again, and, as White said, that takes time.
“He's fooling himself if that's what he really thinks, that he's taken a couple home tests and he's ready to roll or whatever he did,” added White.
“He's gotta solve his problems with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and when he does that, we can figure it out.”
Seeing as how we’re already pushing on May, it’s highly unlikely that the UFC will shift gears even if Belfort can clear everything up with Nevada prior to July.
Belfort was removed from the fight the first time because there wasn’t sufficient time for him to clear up his licensing status and leave enough time to promote the fight. We’re even closer to the July date now than we were to the May date when Belfort was first removed from the fight.
In short, don’t expect Belfort to be inserted in the UFC 175 main event.
Do, however, expect him to be the next middleweight challenger, should he clear up his licensing situation in Nevada.
White recently reiterated that Belfort is still the No. 1 contender, but stressed that he first has to “get his business cleared up with Nevada.”
