Belfort Foresees MMA Surpassing Soccer’s Popularity in Brazil

Former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort will lock horns with Anthony Johnson in the UFC 142 co-headliner on Saturday at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Belfort, who has not fought in his homeland in more than a decade, has seen just about everything during his long and successful career in mixed martial arts. In a pre-fight teleconference, Belfort stated his belief that MMA will soon supplant soccer as the most popular sport in Brazil:

“I do believe [the] UFC will surpass soccer as the number one sport in Brazil. It has everything in place -- the stars, the athletes -- to become the biggest sport in the world. I think it will overtake every sport in the world. People deny that, but I think it is already happening. The Junior dos Santos fight [with Cain Velasquez] in November had more Brazilian [television viewers] than the Brazil-versus-Argentina [soccer match].”