Chris Weidman vs Vitor Belfort may happen in the latter's home country of Brazil according to UFC President Dana White, who claims that the match-up should have happened before "All American" faced Lyoto Machida.
The outspoken company executive spoke to members of the media in Dublin during the UFC Fight Night pre-fight scrum, and was reported by MMA news outlet Bloody Elbow.
"It doesn't have to take place in Nevada," White said of the possibility of Chris Weidman vs Vitor Belfort fight. "That fight would be big in Brazil, too. I would do it Brazil."
Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort were originally slated to face each other at UFC 173, but due to "The Phenom's" failed pre-fight drug test, the title shot was given to Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida instead.
The fight took place at UFC 175 on July 5th in Las Vegas, with Chris Weidman winning via unanimous decision.
Since being sidelined, Vitor Belfort was forced to wait for the winner of the Weidman vs. Machida fight. But all the while, he firmly believes that he should have been given the opportunity to fight for the highly coveted UFC middleweight title.
"I can only see Weidman vs. Belfort," Belfort said in a late-June interview with Tatame.com. "I can only see this. I can't talk about anything else, only about my belt. It won't get in my head.
Interestingly, Chris Weidman sees Vitor Belfort as his next opponent as well, as he expressed his intent to fight the former UFC light heavyweight champion.
"I do want to fight Vitor Belfort," Weidman declared during Monday's edition of The MMA Hour. "He's the guy who's been floating around the top for awhile now."
Dana White also agrees about making the match-up official, adding that it should have been the fight that happened before Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida bout.
"That fight should've already happened before the Machida," White continued. "That's the fight we want to do and that's the fight that Chris Weidman wants. I love this kid calling out Vitor."
"The champ wants to fight Vitor Belfort, man," he added. "I don't blame him, I would too."
