Chris Weidman: 'I'm Concerned Vitor Belfort May Fail a Drug Test'

UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman is set to defend his strap against surging contender Vitor Belfort at UFC 173 on May 24, assuming everything goes according to plan. 

That's a lot to ask according to "The All-American," considering Belfort is a well-known user of testosterone replacement therapy and will have to pass multiple drug tests leading up to the title clash. 

As a matter of fact, Weidman isn't completely confident the matchup will even happen, based on what he told the Power MMA Show on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM. 

"

"Honestly I'm kind worried he's going to fail a drug test now that he's getting tested all the time," said Weidman. "Supposedly at the [World MMA Awards] ceremony a couple of weeks ago in Vegas, they supposedly just randomly drug tested him. Like a (urine) test. So now I'm getting worried he's going to fail ... It's all fun and games when I'm talking about him on TRT and how I don't like it and then all of a sudden I don't have a fight."

"

Belfort, an ex-UFC light heavyweight champ who boasts a three-fight win streak (all knockouts), has been criticized for not fighting on U.S. soil since August 2011, five fights ago. 

During that roughly two-year span—all of which "The Phenom" obtained a TRT usage exemption for—the Brazilian slugger posted a 4-1 mark, with his only loss being a short notice 205-pound title fight against Jon Jones in September 2012. 

While Belfort is in a large, growing sample size of professional fighters using TRT, per ESPN, he gets the brunt of the criticism for the controversial treatment due to his muscular physique and stunning finishes at his age (36 years old). 

Whether or not the matchup occurs without a hitch, Weidman has yet to lose a fight inside the cage (11-0) and is the only competitor to ever post back-to-back wins over longtime titleholder Anderson Silva. 

Both victories elicited some level of debate among fighters and fans, to the point where Belfort called Weidman's UFC 168 victory "an accident," per Yahoo! Sports. 

Will Weidman vs. Belfort go down as scheduled or will a misstep by Belfort bring this anticipated title fight to a screeching halt? 

John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.