Vitor Belfort Will Never Return to the Octagon

by Kid Nate on Feb 24, 2008 6:32 PM EST in MMA News

I hope I'm wrong here, but this comment by Hermes Franca on the Underground got me thinking:

After my fight i was suspended for a year,i could not fight in USA,so i got some calls to fight in canada ,england,japan etc...,so i ask Mr.Joe silva to finish my contract with UFC, i told him i need to fight to make money ,told him to please let me fight and finish my contract( i was out of focus)and his gently did it..So , i spoke with Mr.Armando Garcia, and he told me , if i do some fights out of USA i could not fight in USA anymore never,So i decide don't fight and wait until july,So now i don't have any contract, but of course i will try come back to the UFC( just if u guys wish hermes franca back again lol), or wait for another offer from another organization. That's it.

Hermes made the decision to abide by the commission's ruling and sit out his full 12 month suspension. Vitor Belfort got popped for steroids in October 2007 in Vegas. But instead of sitting out his suspension, he went off to England and fought in Cage Rage in April 2007.

Now Vitor's talking about returning to the UFC.

.I'm still negotiating; I haven't signed anything, that is why I can't provide any news. There is the possibility of a return to the UFC, which I would like a lot, but there are also other big events that want me, so we'll see.

Sorry to say, but I just don't see that happening. What athletic commission in the States is going to license a fighter who not only didn't serve his suspension but didn't even show up at the hearing?

BTW Adam Morgan has some good analysis on Hermes Franca's situation.

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