"The first thing you learn (in martial arts) is respect. Your opponent across the other side of the mat, the Octagon, he is the most important person in that moment for you, because that's the person who makes you compete, who gives you the pleasure to entertain people. But, I see martial arts not just from an entertainment side. I see it as a sport. And as a sport, like in NBA, NFL, we have a code of conduct. And that's something that the UFC, we need to start having that. I think [Silva] really didn't have any conduct on this fight. He acted inappropriately and it wasn't the first time, so I hope this will be the last time that he does."
-- Vitor Belfort -- much like Chael Sonnen (his comments here) -- wasn't impressed with Anderson Silva's behavior during his UFC 162 main event fight against Chris Weidman last weekend (July 6, 2013) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Many believe the epic downfall of "The Spider" in "Sin City" was because of his unwillingness to take "All American" serious, choosing instead to dance around and mock his opponent, putting his hands on his hips and pleading for him to punch him in the face. And punch him he did, as Weidman knocked out Silva in the second round to become the new Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion. Perhaps had Silva followed an in-cage "Code of Conduct" -- one Belfort thinks is required in mixed martial arts (MMA) to be on par with other major sports -- he would might still have the strap around his waist. And "The Phenom" is not the first Brazilian to criticize his fellow countrymen's Octagon antics -- Renzo Gracie previously did the same. But, now that Silva has (hopefully) learned a lesson, will he continue to do much of the same clowning around inside the cage in his future fights? Or is it all just part of his brilliance?