Another weekend of fisticuffs has come and gone, as the wild and crazy UFC 187 pay-per-view (PPV) event blew the roof off the MGM Grand Garden Arena last Saturday night (May 23, 2015) in Las Vegas, Nevada
For complete results from UFC 187: "Johnson vs. Cormier," including play-by-play updates, click here.
Plenty of fighters were left licking their wounds, including Travis Browne, who was knocked out by his "buddy" Andrei Arlovski (video replay here). And Anthony Johnson, who saw his championship dreams halted (for now) by Daniel Cormier in the co-main event of the evening (video highlights).
But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now 48 hours removed from the show?
Vitor Belfort.
"The Phenom" looked to tie a ribbon around his latest Cinderella run after winning his last three bouts via impressive finishes against Luke Rockhold, Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson, by dethroning Chris Weidman from the top of the middleweight mountain.
A win would've been incredible -- not just for the fact that he would have handed Chris his first-ever loss -- but also because Vitor would've become the oldest titleholder on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) roster, proving the "old lion" is still a force to be reckoned with at the tender age of 38.
Unfortunately for Vitor, "All American" proved to the mixed martial arts (MMA) world once again why he is the leader of the division by taking his opponent's best onslaught, surviving, and then going on to finish the Brazilian bomber via ground-and-pound (highlights).
While the win may have finally given Weidman the respect he deserves, the loss is a crushing one for the longtime veteran. Not that it's a shame losing to Wiedman; after all, the American has taken on the best challenges the 185-pound class has to offer and conquered them with flying colors.
What makes Vitor's loss a bit more devastating is the fact that his run just so happened to come to an end in his first fight back after cleansing his body of all of the extra testosterone following the sport's ban of TRT.
Much of Vitor's success -- fair or not -- was credited to the fact that he was on the controversial treatment while he was knocking people out left and right. While some didn't buy into the thinking, you couldn't ignore the fact that the Brazilian's body was very different pre- and post TRT.
How much that factors into his performances, is up for heated debate. Still, it won't do Belfort any favors in his argument that TRT had nothing to do with his wins and the lack of it to his subsequent loss.
In the end, some might see Vitor's loss as a fitting end to the TRT era, while others simply see it as another dominant win for the man who keeps proving people wrong.
What's next after this lopsided loss? Perhaps the loser of this fight.
Unless you have a better idea...