Vitor Belfort waiting to be paid after scrapped retirement fight: 'Where is the respect?'

Vitor Belfort and the UFC apparently aren’t in agreement about one thing: Belfort’s payment for Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 124 event.

Belfort (26-13 MMA, 15-10 UFC) was supposed to fight Uriah Hall in the night’s co-headliner before a health scare forced Hall (13-8 MMA, 6-6 UFC) to withdraw. The fight bout was set to be the last of Belfort’s UFC contract and, as “The Phenom” confirmed on fight week, it would also mark his retirement from MMA competition.

Belfort, who got as far as weighing himself in, took to Instagram after the withdrawal to issue a classy response. On Sunday, however, the former UFC champion adopted a harsher tone in a request to the UFC.

“Now, a message to the UFC: I’m waiting for my payment,” Belfort wrote in an Instagram post. “After all, I did what had to be done (I trained, I was present on fight week, I made weight…) Where is the respect?”

Here’s the full message (via Instagram):

Antes de qualquer coisa só gostaria de dizer OBRIGADO! Obrigado a todos! Todos que me acompanham, torcem por mim e minha família! Mas hj especialmente quero fazer um agradecimento especial ao colunista @chicobarney pela matéria q publicou no Site uol.com.br Lendo o q escreveu me fez lembrar de cada momento descrito no texto. As críticas, meus sentimentos, sonhos, ideias etc… Em um momento como hj, em q o agora não me faz muito sentido… Difícil entender depois de tanta dedicação e sacrifício. De ter me preparado psicologicamente para me aposentar de um esporte q basicamente ajudei a criar… e simplesmente isso não ter acontecido…Tenho sentimentos conflitantes a respeito do q aconteceu… Mas como disse, lendo a matéria também me lembrei de q muito do que fiz, muitas das ideias e muito do q disse anos atrás, não faziam pleno sentido para mim. Eu simplesmente acreditava q daria certo… Q o Vale Tudo na época se tornaria um esporte. Que nós lutadores, não éramos bárbaros se digladiando e sim atletas. Que tínhamos potencial de sermos “uma empresa” de representarmos marcas e valores. Nada disso fazia muito sentido na época, mas dentro do meu coração, sempre fez … Minha luta de despedida não ocorreu como havia planejado, mas no meu coração sei q de alguma forma lá na frente, TUDO isso fará sentido. Mais uma vez, como sempre fiz e muitas vezes fui ridicularizado por isso. Entrego a minha vida nas mãos do meu Pai q está no Céu. Pq Dele sempre veio a minha paz… Bjo no coração de todos vcs. Agora uma mensagem para o @ufc . Estou à espera do meu pgto @ufc afinal de contas, fiz o que tinha que ser feito ( treinei , estive presente na semana da luta, bati meu peso….) Onde está o respeito!?

A post shared by Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort (@vitorbelfort) on Jan 14, 2018 at 5:19pm PST

While it’s not uncommon for the promotion to pay at least the show money to fighters who make weight and lose bouts for reasons beyond their control, UFC President Dana White appears to have answered that one already.

Asked specifically about Belfort’s show money backstage at UFC Fight Night 124 – after Belfort’s message was posted – White replied that the ex-champ turned down a replacement fight offer and a meeting at Saturday’s UFC 220 in Boston.

“Vitor could have fought tonight,” White said. “We got him a fight and offered him a fight, and he turned it down. We also got him a fight in Boston, and he turned that down too.”

MMAjunkie today spoke to a member of Belfort’s team who said that while the situation remains the same, they’re still hoping to get the money and “can’t believe an organization as big as the UFC won’t pay their employee.”

Meanwhile, another Brazilian fighter who was left without a fight on Sunday is expecting to get paid for his efforts. Asked about both his and Belfort’s payment on Twitter, Thiago Alves said that “of course” they were getting their show money.

Alves, who was supposed to meet Zak Cummings, later amended it to reflect that he could only speak for himself.

On his Instagram post, Belfort thanked a Brazilian columnist who dubbed him “the most important Brazilian athlete outside of soccer in history.” Belfort also reminisced on his career and said he had “conflicting feelings” about his fight getting scrapped.

“At a time like today, when the now doesn’t make much sense,” Belfort said. “It’s hard to understand, after so much dedication and sacrifice. Of having psychologically prepared to retire from a sport I basically help create. And have that simply not happen. I have conflicting feelings about what happened.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 124, check out the UFC Events section of the site.