Vitor Belfort "Focused" on Chael Sonnen, Unaware of Fight with Anthony Johnson

After rumors of Vitor Belfort coaching opposite UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in the first international season of The Ultimate Fighter were squashed by the UFC, it now appears that Belfort will be fighting Anthony Johnson at UFC 142. 

While there is no official location for UFC 142, it will be in Brazil and there is speculation it may take place at Convention Center of Manaus, an outdoor venue that can hold up to 100,000 spectators.

The UFC was in Brazil at the HSBC Arena just a few months ago at UFC 134, when middleweight champ Anderson Silva finished Yushin Okami in the second round of the main event. 

This will be “Rumble’s” first fight at 185 pounds.  Despite reportedly walking around at a massive 220-plus pounds between fights, Johnson’s entire MMA career has been contested at welterweight. 

Both fighters are fresh off of impressive KO finishes, with the “Phenom” making short work of Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133, while Johnson recently took out Charlie Brenneman via head kick at UFC Live: Cruz vs. Johnson.   

Despite UFC.com confirming the fight, Belfort said is still yet to receive any official word about the status of his next fight, according to a brief interview with Tatame.com. 

“Nobody confirmed me anything, they just said I’ll fight in January.  I’m super excited to fight in this card (UFC Rio, on January 14). I’ll fight for my people,” Belfort said.

“It’ll be one of the biggest nights of my career. I’ll focus on my training, no matter who I fight,” he added.

Granted, it is certainly possibly the former UFC light heavyweight champion made these comments just hours before the UFC finalized the fight. 

In a very interesting turn of events, Belfort is no longer lobbying for a rematch with “The Spider,” and noted that his attention is now fully focused on every fight fans favorite bad guy: Chael Sonnen.

"My focus is on Chael Sonnen. I'm not interested on fighting Anderson Silva now (sic)", Belfort stated.

The ongoing feud between Belfort and Sonnen has been mostly been confined to Twitter, but Sonnen recently told MMA Heat that he is ready to fight Belfort anytime, anyplace and anywhere.

Fellow B/R MMA Featured Columnist Brian Lopez-Benchimol transcribed a couple highlights from the interview: 

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"[U]nlike Anderson (Silva), I will fight you Vitor. If you want a piece of me it's as simple as just say my name. I'm like Destiny's Child, just say my name baby, just say my name. I'll be there," Sonnen said at one point during the interview. 

"

Belfort mentioned that while a fight with Silva is no longer his top priority, he would still accept a coaching spot on The Ultimate Fighter if offered.

“My name is one of the possibilities (for TUF), but nobody confirmed me anything,” Belfort told Tatame.

“If they choose me, I’ll be more than ready to help the young talents. I’m sure this country has a lot of great talents to be found, some better than Vitor Belfort. I’ll do my best to help this country.”