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Tim Kennedy is embarrassed to be a part of MMA when cheaters like Vitor Belfort spit in his face

Hide your faces, UFC fighters, as Vitor Belfort is likely to spit in it, according to fellow middleweight Tim Kennedy.

Esther Lin for MMA Fighting

I think we know where Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight Tim Kennedy stands on the whole testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) debate.

The UFC Fight Night 31 headliner is tasked with turning away Rafael Natal in tomorrow night's (Weds., Nov. 6, 2013) "Fight for the Troops 3" event on FOX Sports 1 from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky (details), but wouldn't mind getting a shot against Vitor Belfort following a win over "Sapo."

Event if it means traveling to Brazil (via Bloody Elbow):

"The athletic commissions won't give [Belfort] a TUE because he failed a previous test. That's why he medically needs it, because he used anabolic steroids, and he got caught for it. Now he needs TRT and nobody will give him that exemption because he used steroids. It's embarrassing to be part of the sport and have athletes that are manipulating the system like that. It's mixed martial arts, and it's supposed to be about integrity and character and all the things that go with being a martial artist. This is obviously a spit in the face of every martial artist out there. It's demeaning, it's embarrassing. It's not good for the sport, it's not good for him, it's not good for the championship, and it's not good for the promotion. I don't know, is there anything good about it besides for the cheater? I will always want to fight that guy. Do I want to fight him clean? Yeah. And I mean clean with him not being on steroids and in Brazil. He hasn't fought in the United States in four years and there's a reason for that. With that said, I already said that I would fight him in Brazil, and we were going to fight in Brazil, but then he said ‘No' to fighting me, and I don't know if that's gonna ever change. First and foremost, I have to get through Rafael Natal this week, and then I'll be in a better position to make fun of people a little bit more pointedly."

Belfort has agreed to quit using TRT if it means getting a 185-pound title shot.

Then again, his future in combat sports could be decided as early as this weekend (Sat., Nov. 9, 2013), when "The Phenom" rematches Dan Henderson in the main event of UFC Fight Night 32, which takes place on FOX Sports 1 from Goiania Arena in Goias, Brazil.

A win keeps him atop his weight class.

But a loss? That could be just the thing that sends him tumbling down the middleweight ladder and perhaps right into the waiting arms of Kennedy, who would need a win over Natal -- coupled with a Belfort loss to Henderson -- to close the gap in the divisional rankings.

Anyone think this is a score worth settling?


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