Vitor Belfort will soon embark on what he’s claimed will be his final fight before retiring against Lyoto Machida at UFC 224 in Rio de Janeiro on May 12th, but it seems he’s not ready to completely rule out the possibility that he might one day return.
“It’s what I said: in reality, it will be my final fight and my journey is ending,” the 40-year-old Belfort told MMAjunkie. “But nothing that a good contract — what, seven digits? — can’t do in terms of helping us return. I’ll keep training. I love doing this. But there needs to be a meaning. There needs to be a purpose and it needs to be something that makes sense.”
Belfort is coming off a win over Nate Marquardt last time out and a win over Machida would certainly ensure that he’s still a valuable commodity in the MMA market, but given that he currently pulls in $500,000 per fight (if he wins), its likely to be wishful thinking to expect the promotion to double that at this late stage in his career.
Nonetheless, Belfort appears eager to make it known that he’s not completely off the market at this stage.
“If, after this, I can sit down with UFC President Dana White and the new owners – if they have something to offer and they can hear me and we can come to an agreement, it will be great.”
