Vitor Belfort Says He’s a New Person Ahead of Gastelum Fight

Vitor Belfort spoke with MMAjunkie ahead of his fight with Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Fight Night 106. Some highlights are below:

On his change it attitude: “(I’m) literally a different person. Totally motivated and happy. It’s something I can’t even explain. (The changes) have been made with tears and blood, but they were made. I’ve always been able to reinvent myself. And I think this is a good quality, people who reinvent themselves, people who won’t let the circumstances dictate how they’re supposed to live. On the contrary – (you need to) turn the circumstances into paint with which to write a new story. That’s what I did.”

On facing Gastelum: “He asked for it, and he got it. That guy who’s fighting Anderson Silva (Derek Brunson) turned down a fight with me. My fight was going to be with Brunson, and he declined it. Gastelum, who was excited about his win, asked to fight me, and I said ‘yes’ right away. He’s a guy who goes after it. He’s young, tends to want to show what he can do. That’s all I want, a fighter like him, who’s going to push me to put on a good show. I’m very happy.”

On fighters not being willing to take chances: “(My last opponents, Ronaldo Souza and Gegard Mousasi) are unfortunately struggling with a problem. Now nobody wants to fight them? How does that work? Now fighters pick their own fights. There’s no respect. People don’t want to be known for whom they fought against, they want to be known for how they fought. Odds of winning, odds of losing. The great competitors want to fight the best. That’s what I learned – in sports, you fight the best. Wanting to fight the best, taking on challenges, that’s the cool thing about sports.”

On Michael Bisping: “Now we see that the titleholder is a wimp. A guy who doesn’t honor – ‘Oh, now I’m injured, I can’t fight. ‘Jacare,’ I won’t fight you, I’ll fight the guy from the lower division (Tyron Woodley).’ This is a guy who’s picking fights. This is what he is leaving for his fans, a legacy of wimpiness. You can’t do that. When a guy is the champion, he needs to fight the best. I think that’s the real champion.”

On his future: “In my case, I see that I’m free. I see these past two setbacks as opportunities. I go in there free. I’m going into my next fight free to put on a great fight. The rest is consequence. My legacy is already there. Vitor Belfort doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone. I’m in there to compete. I’ve been doing this for 20 years. I want fans to enjoy it. I want media to be able to write great stories. I can’t expect everyone to think like I do, but I need to share the way I think. I think that’s resilience, and that’s personal success. It’s not letting defeats become bitter, but turn them into sweet things. That’s what I do. As long as there’s a flame in my heart, I’ll keep pursuing the call of fighting.”