Michael Bisping believes Vitor Belfort deserves his place in the UFC Hall of Fame despite their differences.
Bisping notoriously took on Belfort in 2013, with the Brazilian blinding him after landing a head kick which detached his retina.
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The Briton had surgery and to this day uses a prosthetic eye.
Belfort’s career is a controversial one having had legal use of of testosterone-replacement therapy [TRT] throughout his stint in the UFC.
Nonetheless the UFC icon was inducted into the promotion’s Hall of Fame down to his great achievements in the cage.
He was in tears when the news was broken by Dana White at UFC 315 earlier this month.
But Bisping still insists Belfort is a ‘cheat’ when reacting to the reward, despite giving him some credit.
He said in an interview with MMA Junkie: “When you look at it and remove all the emotions from it, the man was the UFC heavyweight champion of the world at 19.
“He then became the light heavyweight champion. He almost became the middleweight champion.
“He’s the closest thing we’ve had to a three-weight champion. Was he a massive cheater? Of course.
“I lost an eye because of this guy. He can stick his Hall of Fame up his a–. But he does deserve it.
“You can’t deny what he did inside the octagon. You just can’t deny it. If that’s not a Hall of Fame career, I don’t know what is. Whether you like it or not, he deserves it.”
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Bisping is clearly unsure how to feel given their previous instances of the past.
But Belfort has written his name in UFC folklore nonetheless.
Bisping himself was already inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, having received the status in 2019.
His rival ‘The Phenom’ had an equally stellar career fighting the likes of Jon Jones, Anderson Silva and Randy Couture,
He retired from the UFC in 2018 after being brutally knocked out, but has fought in the boxing ring including victory over Evander Holyfield in 2021.
And UFC kingpin Dana White was truly delighted to see him collect the accolade.
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He said: “Vitor Belfort was 19 years when he was signed by UFC and he quickly made an impact by becoming the youngest athlete to win a UFC fight, and UFC tournament.
“Vitor was a pioneer of the sport and is definitely a UFC legend. It will be an honor to induct him into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer.”
