Shortly after
Vitor Belfort withdrew from his April UFC middleweight title bout against
Anderson Silva due to an injury, Sherdog.com talked to the man himself.
“I’ve already had the surgery on my left shoulder,” Belfort said. “Actually Lorenzo (Fertitta) was aware that I was feeling really bad pain in my shoulder for a long time. I’ve already had three injections since I was scheduled to fight Fedor, but lately the pain got really unbearable and my doctor decided to take an (MRI) and it showed chronic injury that was getting worse. My doctor, Michel Simoni, said that if I did not stop and do the surgery immediately, I was running serious risk of my shoulder going out of place. Also I was already losing the power of my left arm. How could I fight (without) my strongest hand?”
Once the doctor said that the sooner Belfort had the surgery, the sooner he could return, the fighter notified Fertitta of his decision to do it. Belfort said the UFC co-owner supported his decision.
“I’m feeling good, and according to the doctor, in four months I can start returning to training little by little. Now I have a long journey of work with physical therapy every day. I think before the end of the year, I’ll be back in the Octagon. No matter if it’s fighting for the belt or not, I’ll be back 100 percent.”
Belfort is expected to post a video message on his Twitter account Friday that will explain his injury and recovery to his fans in English.
Printer Friendly
