mma / News

Vitor Belfort Feeling Good Heading Into Retirement Bout at UFC Fight Night 124

January 12, 2018 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

Vitor Belfort spoke ahead of his retirement bout against Uriah Hall at UFC Fight Night 124. Highlights are below, per MMAjunkie:

On the fight being his retirement bout: “That’s the last one. People didn’t expect that, no?…My body needs that. I’m going to that second journey. Retirement, for me, is different than how people see it. I’m happy. I’m content. I’m content with my life. I don’t depend on the lights. I don’t live out of that. I don’t live out of, ‘Man, I need that to feed my ego.’ That’s not what feeds my ego. What feeds my ego is when I see someone changing their life, someone become a better person. This is what feeds my ego, to tell the truth. I’m going to miss a lot of stuff. But it’s part of life. You’ve got to know the time to start and have the time to end. So, here it is.”

On feeling good going into the bout: “When the octagon door closes, it’s the same size. For me, it’s a joy. I don’t like goodbyes, throwing parties. A goodbye fight, this isn’t soccer, to have goodbye games. Party, barbecue, music. This is a fight. You can’t be relaxed, enjoy it, have a party. It’s very serious. For me, it’s very nice to be here. It’s a very welcoming card, a great card. Full of champions. Full of great guys, the future of the sport. I’m satisfied. I’m very happy with what I’ve accomplished and to be able to finish it like this. I’m feeling special.”

On what MMA needs to do from here: “We can go to a place – imagine MMA in the Olympics. Just imagine. It’s impossible for you to imagine, because MMA can take every sport. It can be the biggest sport in the Olympics. But how are we going to get there? What do we need to do? What do we need to sacrifice? And sometimes people are afraid to sacrifice, to change some stuff, create some stuff. Who knows, the Legend League. So many things out there that are going to take guts.”

on the sport needing more safety: “I say the most important thing of the sport, people don’t realize, it’s the safety. The safety is not there yet. People are like, ‘I love wars.’ War is great, but you don’t want your son to go to war. You want other people to fight the war. We need the sport. MMA is already a sport, with skills. We need more skills. Less damage.”

On the fight with Hall: “I want to fight my best fight. I want to have my best night. Of course I want to win, but I don’t have control over that. I wish I had an undefeated career. I wish I never fell. I wish every day was perfect. I wish today wasn’t raining, but it’s raining. So, things you cannot control, it’s a waste of time thinking about. What I can control, I want to go out there and do my best on Sunday night.”