Vitor Belfort was on a remarkable run in 2013, and Joe Rogan believes no one was more intimidating during that period.
Belfort put together a dominant year, with knockout wins over Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold, and Dan Henderson all coming within the same calendar year.
The victories were rapid-fire – three knockouts in 10 months – and he looked nearly unstoppable at the time.
He underwent testosterone replacement therapy [TRT] for those bouts – legally at the time – but it remained a controversial topic. Belfort looked better than ever until TRT was outlawed in February 2014, just three months before his first-round middleweight title defeat to Chris Weidman.
Joe Rogan discusses Vitor Belfort’s TRT era
Joe Rogan recently sat down with UFC legend Mark Kerr to discuss the days when performance-enhancing drugs were common in MMA, and how TRT helped turn ‘The Phenom’ into one of the most dangerous fighters in the sport.
Kerr’s early career is being turned into a film starring Dwayne Johnson, and as they looked back on that era, Rogan spoke about how things changed as MMA began to grow and answer to athletic commissions.
“He’s an interesting case study.
“First of all, a pioneer, right? First fought in the UFC at 19 years old, went through and won the tournament at 19, which is bananas.
“And then we got to see him get off the sauce, and his body kind of faded out. And then they brought back testosterone replacement. When testosterone replacement came in, all of a sudden, it was TRT Vitor and he was the scariest moth—er for like five fights, or whatever it was, before they killed the TRT exemption.
“Then it all went away for him. Like, that should be a commercial for testosterone replacement.”
What is Vitor Belfort up to these days?
Since taking that front kick loss to Lyoto Machida in 2018, Vitor Belfort has not competed in MMA.
The 48-year-old then looked sharp when he switched over to boxing a few years later.
Belfort knocked out ring legend Evander Holyfield inside two minutes when they fought in September 2021.
Belfort’s last competitive fight was in April 2023, a boxing victory against Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza.
His boxing match against Wanderlei Silva, originally scheduled for September 27, has been cancelled.
‘The Phenom’ has not yet expressed any interest in retiring, but it is currently unknown whether the event will be rescheduled.
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