Luke Rockhold is still bitter about his loss to Vitor Belfort.
The former Strikeforce middleweight champion crushed Constantinos Philippou in the main event of UFC Fight Night 35 earlier this year in Georgia (details), and now looks to make it two straight by disposing of Tim Boetsch at the UFC 172 pay-per-view (PPV) event this Saturday night (April 26, 2014) in Baltimore, Maryland.
And then?
While there is no question Rockhold has his sights set on the UFC middleweight title, which will be contested between Chris Weidman and Lyoto Machida later this summer, he's not ruling out another crack at Belfort, in an attempt to erase the painful memory of going beddy-bye in Brazil last year by way of "Phenom"-enal head kick.
From his conversation with FOX Sports:
"I don't give a shit. I'll go back down to Brazil and fight Vitor on steroids. He's not going to land that kick again. I will overcome Vitor Belfort. No matter what, steroids or not, doesn't matter to me. Lightning will not strike twice. There's some fishy things going on. The highs and lows of Vitor Belfort, I would not want to be that guy. Be on top of the world getting all these 'knockouts of the night' and all these awards of the year and then all of a sudden get shunned into the shadows. He leads a shady life and it seems like karma might be coming back."
Rockhold is not the first person to cry foul over the Brazilian's sudden disappearing act.
Belfort was expected to get the next crack at the 185-pound crown, but was forced to go into hiding when the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) banned testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). "The Phenom" promised to return to mixed martial arts (MMA) after cycling off the controversial treatment, which is expected to take 90 days.
Where he fits into the middleweight puzzle upon his return, remains to be seen.