Vitor Belfort's UFC Hall of Fame entry raises tricky questions — and for Michael Bisping, complicated feelings

Here's my first thought upon hearing that Vitor Belfort would be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer: Wait, he's not already in the Hall of Fame?
Right after that, my second thought was: Wonder what Michael Bisping thinks about this.
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That's not sarcasm, just to be clear. It's an honest admission that, more than anyone else, Bisping has a right to feel some type of way about it. That's because back in 2013, when Belfort and Bisping clashed in the headliner of a UFC Fight Night event in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Belfort landed a knockout kick that eventually cost Bisping his right eye.
The kick was clean. Belfort? Not so much. As we suspected at the time, and later had confirmed in the most hilarious way possible, Belfort was juiced up with synthetic testosterone. We didn't necessarily need lab results to tell us this (though we did eventually get them). All we had to do was look at the action figure physique he'd suddenly sprouted in his mid-30s and then apply some basic math.
Belfort, who'd already been busted by one drug test nearly a decade earlier, was far from the only one taking advantage of the MMA world's laissez-faire approach to testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) at the time. Chael Sonnen and Dan Henderson had helped stamp 'TRT' into the fight fan vocabulary, claiming they needed the hormonal boost due to their abnormally low testosterone levels.
This was absurd, of course, but maybe we were living in an absurd time. Belfort simply took it to the next level by aggressively flunking the eye test while piling up highlight-reel finishes, which played a major role in eventually forcing the state athletic commissions to admit that the whole thing was too ridiculous to continue.
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That's about when TRT was finally effectively ended in MMA, but it was shallow comfort to Bisping. Banning Belfort's supplement of choice didn't restore the vision in his right eye. There was arguably no one more harmed than Bisping by the TRT era in MMA. He fought and lost against at least three known users — Henderson, Sonnen, and Belfort — and suffered devastating knockouts in two of those fights.
Since the Belfort loss cost him the most, at least physically, you might think Bisping would have some complicated feelings about enshrining the man in the UFC Hall of Fame. You'd be right about that. But only to a point.
'Was he a massive cheater? Of course,' Bisping told MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn recently. 'Did he take a lot of steroids? Of course. Were there a lot of other people doing that at the same time. Absolutely there was. So I was like, I get it. But then when I thought about it, I lost an eye because of this guy. I'm like, no, he can stick his Hall of Fame up his ass."
Bisping then added: "But he does deserve it.'
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This is where it gets tricky, for all the reasons Bisping just outlined. Just going by the official record, you have to admit Belfort had a great career. He burst onto the scene as a teenager in the wild west days of mid-'90s MMA, and was somehow still around — and very much in title contention — by the time the UFC had new ownership and a network television deal in the mid-2010s.
Vitor Belfort knocked out Michael Bisping in an infamous 2013 bout in Brazil that ultimately cost Bisping his right eye. (Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
(Josh Hedges via Getty Images)
That right there is incredible all on its own. His UFC titles at heavyweight and light heavyweight also look good on paper, though they're arguably a lot less impressive under even the lightest scrutiny than the middleweight run that came later.
Really, the only possible justification to keep a guy like Belfort out of the UFC Hall of Fame would be the doping stuff. And if you were doping in one or more of MMA's notorious doping eras (see also: the entire history of PRIDE Fighting Championships), how much can we hold it against you just for doing it less discreetly and more successfully than others?
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Belfort lived many different lives across many different eras of this sport. He also inhabited several different bodies while doing it. You couldn't not notice this. He practically forced us to form some kind of opinion on it, one way or another.
Usually fight fans get more forgiving of that stuff the further removed we are from it. While it's happening in the moment, sure, it's cheating and that's bad (especially when it's not your favorite fighter doing it). But give us a decade or so and we'll decide it was actually really fun to watch and we miss it.
Bisping's missing eye makes that a little tougher to do in the case of Belfort. Professional fighting is the hurt game, as we know. There's not a doctor anywhere in the world who would tell you it's good for your health, and everyone who steps in the cage knows it comes with risks. Bisping could have easily lost that eye against a clean fighter. But he didn't.
Should Belfort still get a place in the UFC Hall of Fame despite all that? I think so. But that doesn't mean we can't feel more than one way about it. And if you're Bisping, I don't think anyone would blame you if you skipped the induction ceremony entirely.

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USA Today

3 hours ago

• USA Today

'Misunderstood' Manny Machado makes no apologies on his path to Hall of Fame

PHOENIX — You don't have to like him. You can even hate him. San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado really doesn't care. Simply, he doesn't play this game to make friends. He plays this game to beat you, and if you don't respect him for that, hey, it's your loss. Machado, 32, one of the fiercest competitors in all of baseball, is about to go where only 11 men in history have gone before. He will be the 12th player to produce 2,000 hits with 350 homers before turning 33 years old. Machado, who has 1,989 hits and 354 homers entering Saturday, is on the verge of joining Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Lou Gehrig, Frank Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Foxx, Met Ott, Ken Griffey Jr., Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera and Alex Rodriguez as the only men to accomplish the feat. Eight of these players are enshrined in the Hall of Fame, and two have yet to be eligible but are shoo-ins with Pujols and Cabrera. Shhh, don't tell anyone, but Machado would love to be part of that distinguished group in Cooperstown one day, too. 'I looked up to A-Rod, I looked up to Barry [Bonds], I looked up to Albert," Machado tells USA TODAY Sports. 'They are all the guys I played the game for. Obviously, there's other pretty, pretty special people, but those were the main guys that inspired my game. Those were guys who played the game elite. We wanted to be those guys. 'I wanted to be A-Rod, obviously, because I was a shortstop. I wanted to have Albert's swing. I wanted to have the power that Barry had, hitting it into the water and breaking records that were never meant to be broken. ... So when people talk about that list, it's pretty special." Machado, who has played shortstop in 236 games, and none since 2019, wants to be remembered as one of the greatest third basemen to ever play the game. After six All-Star appearances, two Gold Gloves and a Platinum Glove, he's still playing the position better than anyone in the game, other than José Ramírez of the Cleveland Guardians. There are only eight third basemen in history who have hit more home runs. He's the only active player to hit at least 28 homers in nine consecutive full seasons. And he is showing no signs of a dropoff, leading the National League in 11 offensive categories, hitting .311 with an .878 OPS, to go along with 12 homers and 46 RBIs. What the Padres and peers admire the most about Machado is that he consistently posts. He plays every day. No matter how he feels, how much he may be hurting, he's in the lineup. He hasn't missed a game this season. He has played at least 150 games nine times, including two years where he played in all 162. If it means that his numbers will drop because he's fatigued or playing hurt, he's fine with it, knowing with him in the lineup means his team has a a better chance of winning. 'It's just crazy what he does, man," Padres utilityman Tyler Wade says. 'Last year, he's dealing with all of his elbow stuff and dealing with other injuries, he doesn't come out of lineup. When you see a guy doing that, you say, 'If he's doing it, I can play with my injuries.' 'And it's not like he's just having OK years. He's having All-Star, MVP-caliber years every single year, and he's grinding. Everyone across the league knows what he means to the game. There's very few players in this league that have the impact on a city and an organization, and he's one of them. 'Really, he's one of the most impressive guys I've ever been around." It's no coincidence the Padres began to be a power shortly after Machado's arrival as a free agent before the 2019 season. They have made the postseason three of the last five years, and with a 40-35 record, they're on their way to a fourth consecutive winning season, which has happened only once in their 56-year franchise history. 'Manny coming here to San Diego is a big reason for us turning things around," says Padres GM A.J. Preller. 'It was sending a message to the rest of baseball in terms of a premium impact player, in the prime of his career, coming to the San Diego Padres. 'We were selling him on the potential of our vision, what it was going to look like on the field, and now you see a team that's been to the playoffs three times in the last five years. Next is to see a team led by Manny win the World Series. That's why he plays, honestly." There's nothing more that Machado would love before entering Cooperstown one day than leading the Padres to a World Series title. Twice, the Padres have been to the World Series. Twice, they got knocked off by legendary powerhouses in the 1984 Detroit Tigers and 1998 New York Yankees. They had the Los Angeles Dodgers on the ropes last year, leading 2 games to 1 in the best-of-five division series, and to this day the Dodgers will tell you the Padres were easily the best team they played all season. 'I want to win so bad, that's why we play the game," Machado says. 'And to win here, in a city that's never won before, it would mean everything. It's nothing to do with cementing your legacy or anything like that, I just want to win. When I came here, we had a vision to put this organization on another level. This organization has changed tremendously from Day 1 since I've been here. It's sold out every game. And we consistently win." Machado, who lives on Coronado Island across the bridge from Petco Park, isn't trying to win a popularity contest with the 29 other teams in baseball. He's old-school. He would have fit in perfectly with players from the 60s and 70s like Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale, Pete Rose and all of those fiery competitors from yesteryear. No one ever accused them of being your friend, but my God, did they ever earn your respect. It's no different from Machado. To fully appreciate him, you've got to be with him. If you're his teammate, he's got your back. And you better have his, too. When teammate Fernando Tatis Jr. was hit three times in the last nine days by the Dodgers, including the last one that required him to get X-rays to make sure his hand wasn't broken, Machado casually offered this warning to anyone who dared listen: 'Let's just hope his scan comes back negative. (The Dodgers) got to pray for it to come back negative tomorrow. They need to set a little candle up for Tati tomorrow. Hopefully it comes back negative. That's not a good spot to get hit. I don't care who it is, I don't care who's on the mound.' The X-rays were negative, and Tatis played the next day, but Machado was making it quite clear there would be repercussions. 'He might be one of the most misunderstood players in the game," Padres infielder Jake Cronenworth says. 'You see him play with that edge, and he's kind of brought that onto the rest of the team. You see the way we play. We got guys playing hard, playing every day, and that's what he's brought to this team ever since he's been here. ... 'You look at his career, it's almost the same every year, 150-plus games played, 30 homers, it's just not normal. It's almost the perfect recipe for a guy who's on his way to the Hall of Fame. This guy is on his own path to greatness." Padres manager Mike Shildt, who remembers the impact Pujols had in the St. Louis Cardinals clubhouse when he came up through the organization, sees a lot of similarities with Machado. He's the unofficial captain, the team's heart and soul and there's not an ounce of phoniness. 'I think he's probably one of the most misunderstood players in our game," Shildt says. 'I know the quality of human Manny is. I know Manny's heart. But think what's hard today is the sensitivity, the persecution, of just having the ability of being yourself. He is learning to channel all of the things that can be a challenge to be that consistent competitor and still be the core of who you are, which is core of who Manny Machado is, which is very special. … 'It's much more difficult now to have a strong opinion or conviction. I'm not green-lighting doing something inappropriate or to offend someone, but gosh, man, being able to be an alpha, it gets to be more of a challenge for players. Competing hard every day is still ok. You want a commitment by every player to be willing to lay out, and that's what comes with high expectations. I won't apologize for that, and I don't think Manny's going to apologize.'' Machado should be back on baseball's center stage once again in three weeks. He's running away in the All-Star balloting and should be the NL's starting third basemen. It will be a chance, at least momentarily, to bask in his accomplishments, being only the fifth active player to achieve 2,000 hits. 'I haven't really reflected on any of that," Machado says, 'I still have a lot to accomplish, a lot to look forward to. But you definitely see what's happening in real time, and that's kind of surreal. You know, I just love playing the game. That's all I think about. If I'm not playing baseball, then I don't know what I'd be doing. 'This is what I was made to do." Around the basepaths – The baseball world lost a giant in the business with the passing Friday night of baseball writer Scott Miller, who gave pancreatic cancer everything it could handle during his 20-month battle. Miller, 62, was brilliant writer with a heart of gold, loved, admired and respected by everyone in the baseball community. His sensational book, 'Skipper: Why Baseball Managers Matters," was just released in May. He was touched when baseball dignitaries like future Hall of Fame manager Dusty Baker, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, Minnesota Twins greats Torii Hunter and Jacque Jones, and many, many more reached out in the past two weeks to express their love for him. He will be so greatly missed, but my best friend in the business, will never, ever, be forgotten. – Former Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black, who turns 68 on June 30, could be rejoining the Rockies just a month after being dismissed as manager after eight seasons. Black is a strong candidate to replace Steve Foster, who is leaving his position as the Rockies' director of pitching to become pitching coach at Texas Tech. 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Check out the standings: There are only six teams who are out of playoff contention: the Chicago White Sox and the Athletics in the AL, and the Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals and Miami Marlins in the NL. – Ronald Acuña Jr. has played in only 25 games, but the way he's performing, he might be playing himself right into the All-Star Game. He's hitting .382 with a 1.176 OPS, including eight homers and 14 RBI. If selected, he's volunteering for the Home Run Derby too. – Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suárez was on the verge of being designated for assignment at year ago at this time, but since July 7, 2024, has become the finest power-hitting third baseman in the game. He since has 46 homers and 132 RBIs, joining the 300-homer club on Friday, and should be a coveted free agent after the season. The only players with more homers in this stretch are Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani – while no one has more RBIs. – Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes has permitted a total of just 21 earned runs in 16 starts this season. He has four victories. Really. – What a sensational start to a big-league career for Milwaukee Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski, who opened by throwing 11 no-hit innings in his first two starts. He is the only MLB pitcher in the modern era to have more victories (2) than hits permitted (1) in his first two career starts, according to OptaSTATS. – Look who's back as good as ever. Jacob deGrom is 7-2 with a 2.24 ERA. DeGrom, 37, has made 12 consecutive starts pitching at least five innings and allowing two or fewer runs. It's the longest streak in the Rangers/Senators history, and the longest by any pitcher 35 or older since 1900, according to STATS. – Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado is certainly making a case for the Hall of Fame by becoming one of only seven players in history to hit at least 350 homers with 10 Gold Glove awards, joining Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt as the only infielder to accomplish the feat. The others: Catcher Johnny Bench and outfielders Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Al Kaline and Andruw Jones. – That cheering sound you heard in the upper Midwest were the Minnesota Twins' owners celebrating the news that the Rays are in advanced talks to sell the team to Jacksonville developer Patrick Zalupski for a reported $1.7 billion. If the Rays are being sold for that amount without a ballpark, the Twins' asking price of $1.7 billion could be an absolute steal. – The Phillies, who attempted to lock up DH Kyle Schwarber in spring training, aren't hiding their intentions to re-sign him when he's a free agent. They know how valuable he is in their clubhouse in addition to being a lethal left-handed bat. – If Red Sox first baseman Tristan Casas never got hurt, Rafael Devers would still be in Boston, and everyone would have been spared the drama. – The feud between Red Sox boss Craig Breslow and Devers is reminiscent of the hostility between former Rockies GM Jeff Bridich and Arenado when they ultimately traded Arenado to St. Louis. It was an utter disaster. The Rockies have never been the same, and on pace for 125 losses, their third consecutive 100-loss season. 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Why, after assuming Devers' contract, they also shelled out huge deals for Willy Adames (seven years, $182 million), Matt Chapman (six years, $151 million) and Jung Hoo Lee (five years, $104.75 million) the past two offseasons. – There's no better rivalry in baseball these days than the Dodgers and Padres, two franchises who legitimately hate each other. In their four-game series in Los Angeles, there were eight hit-by-pitches, a benches-clearing incident, two managers bumping one another on the field, and two managers and a player being suspended. – Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis has been hit five times by the Dodgers since comeback from his PED suspension in April, 2023, and only six other times by the rest of baseball. – Fabulous seeing Cubs legend Sammy Sosa back at Wrigley Field on Friday for the first time in 21 years, with the crowd chanting "Sammy! Sammy!" "This is my house," Sosa told reporters during his media session. "I always believed it was going to happen. The time is perfect. Now I'm here again, and I will continue to be here. The relationship is tremendous, so hopefully we can continue that until the day that I die." – MLB commissioner Rob Manfred will be in Las Vegas to be part of the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the A's new home on the Vegas strip in 2028. – You think the Rangers rely heavily on Corey Seager? They are 166-86 when he gets a hit in a game, and 107-202 when they don't. The Rangers are going to go offensively only as far as Seager takes them. – While the Padres are desperately looking for a left fielder, can you imagine if they still had James Wood, who was sent to the Nationals in the Juan Soto trade? Wood, 22, is hitting .281 with 20 homers and 56 RBI this season. Meanwhile, Nationals shortstop C.J. Abrams who was also in the trade, should be in the All-Star Game where it's played in his hometown of Atlanta. He leads NL shortstops in OPS (.882) and slugging (.478). – Rockies starter German Marquez's trade value is starting to climb, yielding three or fewer runs in six of his last eight starts, with a 3.47 ERA in June. – The Houston Astros, who have a comfortable lead in the AL West, are about to get a few reinforcements with starter Cristian Javier, J.P. France, Spencer Arrighetti and Luis Garcia all making their way back from surgeries and could be joining the Astros in the second half. – Teams may want to steal a page out of the Angels' scouting report on facing Yankees slugger Aaron Judge. He hit just .182 (4-for-22) with only one extra-base hit and nine strikeouts against them this season. – Kudos to Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani for calming everyone down during the heated series against the Padres, waving his team off and telling them to stay in the dugout when he was hit for the second time. – Double Duty Warriors: The Cardinals have already played six doubleheaders this season. The rest of baseball has combined for just 11. – The Dodgers passed 2 million in attendance in just 40 home games, the quickest in franchise history. – Pope Leo XIV got the White Sox fans in a frenzy when he joined in on a 'White Sox" chant while waving to the crowd traveling through Vatican City. – Remember when Yankees closer Luke Weaver was reported to be out four to six weeks with his left hamstring strain? He was back in less than three. – While Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos was benched for a game after snapping at Phillies manager Rob Thomson after being pulled out of a game for defensive reasons, he certainly had no problem with the decision a day later. 'We're two grown men that show up for work every day with the common goal of winning a World Series,' Castellanos told reporters. 'If everybody just agrees on everything and doesn't speak their mind, there's not going to be passion there. Emotions drive people, especially passionate people. 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He'll be voted the NL's starting shortstop, tallying 1.02 million votes through the first update. Mookie Betts is second with just 597,188. – No one could have imagined that the Yankees' powerful offense would go AWOL, scoring seven runs in a seven-game span, losing six of them. The last time that happened? Would you believe Sept. 1-7, 1908, according to researcher Katie Sharp. – Dodgers utilityman Kiké Hernandez after learning that Dodgers owner Mark Walter was also purchasing the Los Angeles Lakers for $10 billion, the richest purchase in U.S. Sports history. 'It was more of a shock like, 'Holy (expletive)!' We know you were rich, but you're that rich, kind of thing,' Hernandez told the LA Times. – So, just how did Javier Baez of the Detroit Tigers celebrate his 10-year anniversary in MLB? The dude hit two home runs. 'It's been a long road, lots of ups and downs," Baez told reporters. 'In this game, there are a lot of ups and downs and I've been down many times and never kept my head down. I kept working and I'm going to keep working until the last day. Honestly, I'm impressed with the way I'm still doing this.'' – Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, who hit his MLB-leading 30th homer on June 21, is now on pace to hit an AL record 65 homers. Next up on his bingo card: He is one stolen base shy of being the fourth catcher in history to hit 30 or more homers and steal at least 10 bases in a season, joining Hall of Famers Carlton Fisk (37 homers and 17 steals in 1985), Pudge Rodriguez (35 homers, 25 steals in 1999) and Jimmie Foxx (36 homers, 10 steals in 1937). – Everyone counted the Tampa Bay Rays out in mid-May, muddling along with a 18-22 record, averaging just 3.8 runs a game. They have since gone 24-14, averaging 5.7 runs a game, and breathing down the necks of the Yankees, just 1 ½ games out of firt place in the AL East. – It's going to be pretty cool seeing former Cardinals legends Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina manage against one another at the WBC next spring with Pujols leading the Dominican Republic and Molina back with Puerto Rico. They each aspire to be major-league managers. Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

New York Post

13 hours ago

• New York Post

Aaron Rodgers went on a ‘25-minute diatribe' about Jets' running game

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NBC Sports

14 hours ago

• NBC Sports

Connor Zilisch gives Dale Earnhardt Jr. his first NASCAR win as a crew chief

LONG POND, Pa. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the role seriously. He attended meetings. He took notes. He was at a pit practice. When the Xfinity Series garage opened Friday afternoon at at Pocono Raceway, he was there. This was not a publicity stunt or a chance to add another line to his Hall of Fame resume. Earnhardt was committed to filling the role vacated by Mardy Lindley, who was serving a one-race suspension after Connor Zilisch's car had multiple lug nuts not secure earlier this month at Nashville. It was Lindley who suggested that Earnhardt, co-owner of the JR Motorsports car, take the role of crew chief for Saturday's race. Earnhardt accepted, having never served in that role in a NASCAR national series race. MORE: Pocono Xfinity results Zilisch took the lead with five laps to go to score his third career Xfinity win (first on an oval) and give Earnhardt the win as crew chief. 'Certainly more of an adrenaline rush than being an owner,' Earnhardt said after becoming one of the few in NASCAR to have a win as a driver, owner and crew chief. 'I love owning race cars, and I love racking up statistics and championships, but it does not have the competitive sort of skin in the game, if you will, this specific day does. 'When you're the crew chief, you're under a ton of pressure. I understand that I did not come in here and handle all of the layers that Mardy usually handles or any given crew chief manages, They were certainly putting me in a position to do some light lifting. As the race went on, we got more comfortable and more aggressive and it was fun. 'Felt like I really had some involvement and input in the energy that the crew had ... keeping them pumped up and keeping everybody executing, keeping Connor aware of what our goals were, what our expectations were on these restarts. He wanted to deliver on all those expectations. I felt like in that aspect it was a good day.' #NASCAR … Crew chief Dale Jr. welcomes Connor Zilisch to victory lane after the Pocono Xfinity race. The hardest part of the day for Earnhardt? Climbing down the pit box to stand behind the pit wall and roll a tire to the carrier during a pit stop. 'I think the one thing I was most nervous about was actually setting that left front tire. ... There's a tenth (of a second) or two or even half a second between how far you can get it out there to (the tire carrier). You need that stripe up so he knows where the lugs are and to place the tire quickly. All these things are very minute, but they're important that he grabs the tire from you in a certain way, and I didn't want to mess that up.' #NASCAR … Crew chief Dale Jr helping on the tire duties behind the pit wall on Connor Zilisch's first pit stop in the Xfinity race at Pocono Jesse Love finished second and was followed by Christian Eckes, Chase Elliott and Ryan Sieg. Stage 1 winner: Brandon Jones Stage 2 winner: Connor Zilisch Next: The series races at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday, June 27 at Atlanta.