Belfort says MMA should focus on ‘safety’

The former UFC light heavyweight champion feels the future of mixed martial arts lies in an emphasis on safety.

At the height of his career, Vitor Belfort was considered one of MMA’s most violent knockout artists. A style built on aggression and lightening quick punches made him a ferocious threat for anyone that wanted to test their mettle against him in the Octagon. It’s somewhat surprising, then, to hear his thoughts on modern MMA ahead of his planned return to the sport in ONE Championship—sometime after the promotion returns from their forced COVID-19 hiatus.

In a recent interview with MMA Fighting, the ‘Phenom’ spoke about what he sees as the future for MMA—and why he feels the sport’s growth and interest has largely stagnated with the broader public. It’s an area he’s apparently put a lot of focus on as part of his new relationship with ONE Championship.

“Before I signed with ONE, I really saw that ONE is a company that’s willing to take this information from someone who paved the way and learned,” Belfort explained, speaking of his desire to continue working in MMA after his fighting career is finished.

While Belfort touched on judging as a core area in need of adjustment – and admitted that production values have improved a lot over the years – his principal focus for MMA’s lack of development seems to lie with rules and safety.

“But let’s talk about the safety part,” he said. “The first thing that has to be changed is safety. Look at football. Football changed a lot of rules. The gear, the way they attack, the quarterback they cannot get hit like they used to before. Why? Because the first thing we think, we’re thinking safety.

“I don’t like when promoters are promoting blood, violence. I don’t like that. Because guess what? Tell me a promoter besides (ONE CEO) Chatri (Sityodtong) or maybe (Bellator President) Scott Coker, people that have fought before, they’ve really been in the ring and they’ve fought, people who have been in there and they know how it is to get bruised and get cut with 200 stitches in your face. It’s very easy to send someone to war and say, ‘Hey, go fight for me. I’ll be here home waiting for you to return.’ When you look to history, the kings before, they used to go into the front of the battles. King David, you name it. Now, presidents, they say let’s go fight, but it’s easy to pick up a fight when you don’t have to go and fight yourself.”

As for the specifics he wants to address? “Stomp kicks,” like the ones Jon Jones used against Thiago Santos to injures his knees came in at the top of the list.

“Thiago Marreta’s been out of fighting because the [oblique] kicks that Jon Jones was doing, they just tore all the ligaments of his knees. Of course, he’ll never be the same. Of course, he can go back, but he will never be the same. So what’s the purpose of that kick? To cause a win, to cause a knockout, or to cause injury?”

Belfort also targeted MMA’s willingness to let fights continue despite large cuts and the amount of visible blood often shed in MMA. He even took some time to talk about Anthony Smith’s recent loss to Glover Texieira, all of which he feels not only contributes to a lack of broader acceptance for the sport, but is also detrimental to the long-term health of the athletes competing.

Just how how many of his ideas ONE are going to implement in the cage remains to be seen. The promotion has gained some noted praise from their own athletes over their apparent changes to weight cutting, however the lack of transparency around that initiative has left just as many questions as it purported to provide answers. Similarly, ONE’s ban on slam takedowns has seemed to cause more controversy over its use to overturn wins than it has appeared to really improve safety for fighters. ONE Championship definitely seems willing to experiment, but the results of those experiments aren’t necessarily clear.