Vitor Belfort returns to UFC, in main event

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Former UFC champion Vitor Belfort was in negotiations to fight Fedor Emelianenko when the bad news and good news came: The promoter Affliction was folding, the Fedor fight was cancelled; but the UFC was interested in resigning the former champion of UFC 12 who once beat Randy Couture.

‘[UFC owner] Lorenzo [Fertitta] said he wanted me back,’ Belfort said Friday. ‘I knew Fedor would be a big challenge, but I’m real excited to be back.’

Belfort, a Brazilian specializing in Brazilian jiujitsu, was welcomed back in a big way, as Fertitta pushed aside Temecula’s Dan Henderson from a rematch against Rich Franklin at Saturday night’s UFC 103 event in Dallas, and named Belfort the replacement.

UFC President Dana White said that move is one reason why fight fans are drawn more to MMA than boxing, which will present an opposing pay-per-view event from Las Vegas Saturday night between 4-to-1 favorite Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez.

‘Rich is a good all-around fighter, this will be a good fight with two former champions going at it, and we don’t really know how it’ll go: standing up or on the mat,’ Belfort said.

Belfort, 32, hasn’t been in the UFC since 2005, when he lost to Tito Ortiz. He said the UFC’s decision to drop him was ‘a mistake by myself,’ admitting ‘your personal life affects your performance.’

In 2004, Belfort’s sister, Priscilla, vanished in Brazil, and he said the grief (she remains missing) was nearly impossible to resolve. He credits faith in Christ for helping his emotional recovery, and he’s won four straight fights, including two at Affliction shows in Anaheim, since testing positive for a banned substance in a loss to Henderson.

Belfort will fight Franklin at a 195-pound catch weight, but will return to middleweight afterward, where the imposing Anderson Silva stands as champion.

‘All I can focus on now is this fight,’ Belfort said.

-- Lance Pugmire