Vitor Belfort confirmed for UFC 152 against Jon Jones – UFC News
After Shogun Rua and Myoto Machida, Vitor Belfort is now confirmed as Jon Jones’ challenger for UFC 152. Earlier this week, Machida was reportedly being considered for the title but somehow now it is Vitor who will get the opportunity to face the light heavyweight
champion.
Lorenzon Fertitta, Zuffa LLC chairman and CEO, spoke to ESPN.com regarding the chaotic situation that has emerged after UFC 151’s cancellation.
“Yes, Machida and 'Shogun' passed,” he said. “Thank God for old-school real fighters.”
Jones was scheduled to face Dan Henderson at UFC 151, which was to be held on September 1. However, after Henderson suffered a grave injury to his leg, he was forced to stay out. White immediately contacted middleweight contender Chael Sonnen to see if he
is willing to replace Henderson. Even though Sonnen agreed, Jon Jones shrugged down the offer, saying he will not make the decision of fighting Sonnen at the eleventh hour.
Vitor Belfort currently stands with 29 wins and 9 losses in his portfolio. He was slated to fight Alan Belcher on October 13 at UFC 153 but now he will be facing the champion. Earlier, it was Machida who was announced as the challenger but Jones refused
to fight him, claiming Machida was his lowest payout of last year so he does not see the point.
“I don't want to fight Lyoto Machida. He was my lowest pay-per-view draw of last year. No one wants to see me fight Lyoto Machida. I don't want to fight Lyoto again. Lyoto is high-risk and low-reward,” said Jones.
As of now, it seems like Belfort is the saviour for UFC. If Belfort was not there, chances were that the UFC 152 card might get cancelled too, as Jones was not keen on fighting Machida.
White is currently disappointed and furious over Jones for rejecting the fight over against Sonnen. According to White, it is the worst situation of his career where he had to cancel a fight card just because Jones was not comfortable fighting Sonnen.
Luckily, the operators found Belfort in the mood to fight Jones. However, no confirmation from Jones’ end is received yet regarding the showdown.
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