Shawn Tompkins Comments on Belfort/Emelianenko
Affliction middleweight contender Vitor
Belfort began his training week in Las Vegas preparing for
Jorge
Santiago. He may end it preparing for the fight of his
life.
Though still unconfirmed as of noon eastern Thursday by Affliction or Belfort’s representation, it appears likely Belfort will be stepping in to replace an unlicensed Josh Barnett against Fedor Emelianenko at “Affliction: Trilogy” on August 1.
The situation has been the talk of Belfort’s training at Xtreme Couture under the supervision of trainer Shawn Tompkins, who told Real Fighter magazine correspondent Sacha Feinman that much of the week has been fueled on a mixture of confusion and adrenaline.
“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster for us,” he told Feinman. “Vitor is one of my best friends…when we found out about the opportunity and the possibility of this fight last night, we were on a huge high. But at the same time, you go through all these questions in your head. ‘What are we going to have to do to change, how are we going to have to prepare for him, are we ready for him, should we take this fight, and is it at the right time?’”
Tompkins believes it is. “This is a no-lose situation for Vitor Belfort. The fact that he’s stepping up a weight class, he’s taking a fight with the best pound-for-pound champion in the world on a week and a half notice. The pressure really isn’t on him. If worse comes to worst and we did lose the fight, then we lost to Fedor in a weight division above us.”
The bout was offered to Belfort Tuesday evening, shortly after Barnett was removed from the event for a positive banned-substance urine sample. Belfort and Tompkins came to a rapid decision, leaving only financial concerns to be addressed. “Basically, what it came down to is that [Tuesday] we decided we would take the fight, but up until [Wednesday] it was, ‘How much money are we going to get paid for the fight? Josh Barnett was being given anything from $800,000 to 1 million dollars. We should be getting paid to fight Fedor, not just to fight.”
Belfort’s check may wind up being impressive, but the greater reward could be the feat of bettering the world’s most renowned fighter despite a lack of size or preparation.
“If Fedor loses to Vitor Belfort, the world of MMA changes completely,” Tompkins said. “All eyes will be on Vitor.”
Sacha Feinman made majority contribution to this report.
Though still unconfirmed as of noon eastern Thursday by Affliction or Belfort’s representation, it appears likely Belfort will be stepping in to replace an unlicensed Josh Barnett against Fedor Emelianenko at “Affliction: Trilogy” on August 1.
The situation has been the talk of Belfort’s training at Xtreme Couture under the supervision of trainer Shawn Tompkins, who told Real Fighter magazine correspondent Sacha Feinman that much of the week has been fueled on a mixture of confusion and adrenaline.
“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster for us,” he told Feinman. “Vitor is one of my best friends…when we found out about the opportunity and the possibility of this fight last night, we were on a huge high. But at the same time, you go through all these questions in your head. ‘What are we going to have to do to change, how are we going to have to prepare for him, are we ready for him, should we take this fight, and is it at the right time?’”
Tompkins believes it is. “This is a no-lose situation for Vitor Belfort. The fact that he’s stepping up a weight class, he’s taking a fight with the best pound-for-pound champion in the world on a week and a half notice. The pressure really isn’t on him. If worse comes to worst and we did lose the fight, then we lost to Fedor in a weight division above us.”
The bout was offered to Belfort Tuesday evening, shortly after Barnett was removed from the event for a positive banned-substance urine sample. Belfort and Tompkins came to a rapid decision, leaving only financial concerns to be addressed. “Basically, what it came down to is that [Tuesday] we decided we would take the fight, but up until [Wednesday] it was, ‘How much money are we going to get paid for the fight? Josh Barnett was being given anything from $800,000 to 1 million dollars. We should be getting paid to fight Fedor, not just to fight.”
Belfort’s check may wind up being impressive, but the greater reward could be the feat of bettering the world’s most renowned fighter despite a lack of size or preparation.
“If Fedor loses to Vitor Belfort, the world of MMA changes completely,” Tompkins said. “All eyes will be on Vitor.”
Sacha Feinman made majority contribution to this report.
