If Vitor Belfort moves to Bellator, he could have a very familiar welcome committee

On June 24, in the main event of Bellator’s stacked Bellator NYC card, Brazilian MMA legend Wanderlei Silva will make his debut in the Bellator cage. His opponent in this debut will be a longstanding rival in three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen. No matter the outcome of this fight with Sonnen, Silva is hoping that, one day, he’ll have the opportunity to take on another rival in the Bellator cage: Vitor Belfort.

Silva and Belfort first met all the way back in 1998, in the early days of the UFC. On that night, a young Belfort scored an abrupt and decisive upset win over Silva, knocking him out in just 44 seconds.

Since then, Silva and Belfort have carved out two of the most legendary careers in MMA history. And though they were briefly scheduled for a rematch back in 2012, this plan fell through, and the pair were deprived of the chance to settle their score.

In a recent interview with Bloody Elbow, Silva shared some skepticism about the injury that forced Belfort out of this planned rematch, and explained that he’d love to welcome him to Bellator, should he leave the UFC.

“I believe Belfort had a glorious time in the UFC. He was in great events, great fights, but the Silva rematch is still lacking. Back then he said he broke his hand. Actually, it was a really odd injury, because he’s so careful not to get hurt, he’s so professional. Breaking his hand during a sparring session?”