WARNING: 'Focused' Vitor Belfort now even stronger for Chris Weidman title fight at UFC 187

When Vitor Belfort steps foot inside the Octagon at UFC 187 on May 23, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he battles Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion Chris Weidman, it will be 18 months in between bouts for "The Phenom."

After getting pulled from his proposed fight against "All American" at UFC 173 in order to get his testosterone levels under control, the fight was rescheduled for UFC 181 a few months later, but was scratched once again due to an injury to Weidman.

The third time wasn't the charm, as the bout was nixed once more after Chris was forced out of UFC 184 earlier this year after sustaining yet another injury.

But none of those delays and setbacks have deterred Belfort from keeping his focus on the task at hand. After all, his many years in the fight game have given him the strength, knowledge, and experience to always find the silver lining -- even in the darkest of clouds.

His words during the UFC 187 media conference call (full audio replay here) via Sherdog:

"I've just been training and keeping my mind focused on what I can do. I wasn't worried about what I couldn't do and I've been evolving every day. It's all about perspective [taking negative and turning it into a positive]. I'm blessed. How many guys from my era are still around? I'm very positive. I could choose to be negative or positive and I choose to be positive. I've been doing this for so long; 19 years ago I became champion of the UFC by winning the tournament. I think it's a blessing. It all depends on how you deal with it and how you face trials like this. I believe it makes you stronger."

Vitor's ability to stay in the fight game and thrive at such a high level for so long when guys from his era like Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, and Matt Hughes have since called it quits, has long been linked to his use of TRT.

But now that the treatment has been banned, "The Phenom" can silence his haters if he manages to dethrone the much younger 185-pound champion this Memorial Day Weekend.

And at 38 years of age, it would make the Brazilian the oldest titleholder on the UFC roster and add to his already-impressive resume.

Can he get it done?