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Vitor Belfort thinks it’s time for a change.
The 43-year-old is about to embark on the final leg of his storied career, which will take place for ONE Championship at a date and location still to be determined. Belfort expects to fight kickboxer Alain Ngalani, but since signing with the Singapore-based promotion in March 2019 he’s also enjoyed the discussions he’s had with ONE officials about advancing the cause for MMA.
Belfort’s top priority is seeing improvements in fighter safety, which he feels is lagging behind other aspects of MMA’s development. While MMA has never been more available to the general public, Belfort wonders why the fighters are still dealing with the same issues that have plagued the sport for years and why its image has stagnated.
“Every sport, every 10 years, something happened that has to be changed,” Belfort told MMA Fighting. “The rule set, the way the sport is built, the TV shows, the way they engage the fans. So I can see that MMA doesn’t change. The only thing that changes is the lights. The production is better, it’s beautiful, but the rules are the same. Fighters are not happy with the way they’re judged. Fighters aren’t happy because the people that are judging, they don’t know MMA. They don’t know how it works. It’s people that come from boxing starting to judge MMA. The list goes on and on and on...”
Continue reading (photo by Esther Lin):
Vitor Belfort sees safety, restriction of certain techniques, as integral to MMA’s future
Vitor Belfort objected to Jon Jones’s use of the oblique kick in his fight with Thiago Santos.
