Sean Pierson says Vitor Belfort's career should be over.
At UFC Fight Night 106, Belfort lost via first round knockout to Kelvin Gastelum. After the bout, Belfort would announce he wanted to fight only one more time then retire -- later saying he wanted to fight CM Punk. On Fightful MMA's podcast, Pierson brought up Belfort's history of chemical enhancement and current lack of the previously legal testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) to address the diminished version of Belfort.
"You don't want to rag on a guy, but when you see the before and after TRT treatment, you can clearly say it played a major role in his development. When he first came in the UFC, and mind you I don't know if steroids were illegal at the time as far as the sport was concerned,I remember when he fought (Wanderlei) Silva, he was a jacked monster, he was a specimen and everyone was like 'oh The Phenom!.' But The Phenom was on some super fuel," said Pierson
Former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Belfort has been competing in UFC for over twenty years. He used testosterone with the permission of athletic commissions via therapeutic use exemptions. The practice was banned in 2014. Pierson said it's time for Belfort to stop fighting and he has nothing to gain by continuing.
"He's still a great fighter but father time catches us all and it seemed to catch him as soon as the TRT came to an end. Sad to see a legend die, but I don't want to see this legend's MMA go any further either, it should die on the spot, I don't know where everyone's heads at but to let fighters go out longer in their career to get accustomed to more brain damage is not the smartest thing," said Pierson
Pierson would also reject the idea of a "legend league" proposed by Belfort, saying it would "water down the league." Pierson and podcast host "Showdown Joe" Ferraro also discussed the last two UFC events and Anderson Silva. On Tuesday's episode of Fightful MMA's podcast, Elias Theodorou said he wanted to fight Befort.
Pierson appears weekly on Fightful MMA's podcast.
