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Vitor 'The Phenom' Belfort's comeback has taken it's next step. The former Pride, Strikeforce, and UFC fighter now has a named opponent for ONE Championship.
Next month will mark his 2 year anniversary away from in-cage fighting, which by the way was a loss to fellow Brazilian Lyoto Machida at UFC 224. Now that his One Championship debut opponent has been named, all that remains is a date.
Alain Ngalani who's 4-5 with 1 no-contest drew the short straw. The 44-year-old has only fought at heavyweight. So that answers another question, at least for now. What weight division will Vitor fight in? He has fought at middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight. Despite his issues with USADA, and being perceived as "dirty" by some fighters, he's quite accomplished. His best run was a five-fight win streak, finishing with his UFC debut where he finished Rich Franklin in the 1st round.
Before signing with ONE it was thought he may sign with his friend Scott Coker at Bellator. But at the 11th hour ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong swooped in with an offer he could not refuse. The date remains in limbo because Chatri announced that all ONE cards for April and May have been postponed indefinitely. As of now their 1st card back will be June 5th in Indonesia. With the world pandemic still raging and travel restrictions tough, it was just the smart move for them. Especially since more than 80% of their fighters are not from Singapore.
Another question can be answered plainly by looking at Belfort's appearance. Aside from needing a haircut (who doesn't need one right now), he looks very huge and ripped; prompting mental images back to the days of TRT-Belfort with ONE's lax PED testing and wild west image.
The 43 year old has also not shied away from wanting to step into the boxing ring versus Roy Jones Jr one day. But as the sands in the hour glass pass that seems highly unlikely to happen, if it actually ever was.
