Vitor Belfort’s retirement fight will be against Nate Marquardt at UFC 212 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on June 3rd.
That’s the word from the Brazilian site Combate, who claim the veteran fighters have both agreed to the match-up.
The 40-year-old Belfort had declared that he wanted one last fight at UFC 212 before he hands up his gloves after suffering a first round TKO loss to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Fight Night 106 in March.
That had marked Belfort’s third loss in a row, and with four of his last five fights having ended with him suffering a TKO defeat, even ‘The Phenom’ has had to accept that it’s time to draw his legendary 20-year, 25-14 career to a close.
Belfort’s 38-year-old opponent Marquardt has been fending off talk of retirement for several years now after a marked dip in his form in the Octagon.
Marquardt lost to Sam Alvey by unanimous decision last time out, but that was just the tip of the iceberg, with ‘The Great’ having lost seven of his last 10 fights over a four-year period, including three KO defeats.
This seems like sensible matchmaking from the UFC, with Belfort getting an opponent with name recognition, but not someone whose at the top of their game, as had been the case with many of the Brazilian stars other recent fights.
The fight has not been officially announced yet, but is expected to join the main card of a UFC 212 event that will be headlined by a featherweight title unification bout between Jose Aldo and Max Holloway and is also expected to feature another Brazilian legend, Anderson Silva.
