Weidman TKOs Belfort to retain UFC title

It took defending champion Chris Weidman less than one round to brutally stop Vitor Belfort and retain his UFC middleweight title in the co-main event of UFC 187 Saturday in Las Vegas (Sunday in Manila).

Weidman took down Belfort and unloaded a series of punishing shots, forcing referee Herb Dean to stop the title fight at the 2:07 mark of the first round.

It was Weidman's third successful title defense, following a stoppage of Anderson Silva in December 2013 and a decision over Lyoto Machida at UFC 175 in July 2014.

Weidman was in trouble in the early minutes as Belfort connected on left hands and uppercuts that forced the champion to go on the defensive. He was able to take control of the fight, however, and Belfort had no answer for the brutal ground-and-pound that Weidman unleashed.

"He hit me with some good shots, but I've been there in sparring," Weidman said after the fight, as quoted by the Associated Press. "I was just covering, covering, covering, and I was ready to come back."

Belfort, for his part, offered no excuses.

"He got me in a bad position, and he got some strikes. There's no excuse. He was a better man tonight," said the Brazilian fighter.

Weidman remains unbeaten in his MMA career with a 13-0 record, while Belfort dropped to 24-11.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Belfort withdraws from UFC 173 after TRT ban

MANILA – Brazilian fighter Vitor Belfort has withdrawn from his supposed middleweight title clash against reigning champion Chris Weidman after the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) decided to abolish the use of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT).

Belfort, who has admitted using the therapy due to reported low testosterone count, said he will discontinue undergoing TRT so he can secure a fight license in Nevada in the near future.

However, he decided to bow out of the title bout scheduled on May 24 due to time constraints.

"The Nevada State Athletic Commission recently altered its policy and no longer will permit testosterone use exemptions, and will not permit a TRT program. As other jurisdictions may follow suit, I am going to drop my TRT program and compete in MMA without it. Given the time constraints involved between now and my proposed next bout in May, I have determined not to apply for a license to fight in Nevada at this time," Belfort said in his announcement published by MMA Fighting.

Stepping up for Belfort is former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, who is coming of a 2-fight win streak in the middleweight division.

"I'm really excited for this opportunity to fight UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman," Machida said. "I'm going to train hard and be well prepared for this fight."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

'Jones looked unbeatable vs Belfort'

MANILA, Philippines – Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White was all praises for Jon Jones for the fighter’s performance in UFC 152.

White said what impressed him the most about Jones was how acted like he was not injured even after Vitor Belfort hyper-extended his elbow through an arm bar in the first round of their title fight over the weekend.

"He got caught in the arm bar there," White said in Yahoo! Sports.


"There's no way it wasn't popped,” White said of Jones’ arm. “He pulled it out and started fighting like his arm didn't get popped. In no way, shape or form did that guy show any weakness whatsoever.”

Despite the injury, Jones fought on and trapped Belfort with an Americana or a figure-four arm lock in the fourth round. Belfort was then forced to tap out 54 seconds left in Round 4.

"His arm was hurt. He couldn't throw punches with it any more. He couldn't drop elbows with it any more. He made an injured elbow look like it wasn't [injured]. I think the guy looked phenomenal tonight. He took great punches from a real puncher and a guy who wanted to win that fight. … I think Jon Jones did look unbeatable," said White.

White also said that his talk with Jones after the fight went well.

White and Jones had a word war over UFC 151's cancellation, but White said everything was eventually threshed out.

"The Jon Jones conversation went much better," White said.

source: abs-cbnnews.com