Showtime Said to Want Bona Fide Heavyweight

The search to find a suitable opponent for the world’s number-one heavyweight on 10 days' notice moved into its third day Thursday night.
Vitor Belfort is ready and waiting. A purse has been agreed upon, but a contract has yet to be produced to the Brazilian’s manager, Fabiano Farah, said his publicist Felipe Bruno.

Belfort’s head trainer, Shawn Tompkins, said he was shocked to wake up Thursday morning without a clear-cut decision.

“The latest word is that both camps agreed. Affliction wants the fight, but there’s somebody higher up, whether it be with the pay-per-view programming or what not, that’s saying that they’re holding on to see,” said Tompkins on Thursday. “I think it’s a weight discrepancy. I think they want to see a heavyweight rather than Vitor.”

Showtime, which hosts Strikeforce events on its premium pay channel, is also hosting the Aug. 1 pay-per-view for Affliction.

Sources told Sherdog.com Thursday evening the list had dwindled down to six candidates, including Belfort, Jeff Monson, Paul Buentello, Brett Rogers, Muhammed Lawal and Bobby Lashley. (Check out our homepage poll to see who is the public’s frontrunner.)

Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio told Hardcore Sports Radio “Sports Rage” Thursday night that pushing the announcement beyond Friday night would be “ridiculous.”

“It’s just a matter of sitting down with everybody involved: Showtime, our partners M-1 Global, everybody, and just saying, ‘Look this is what we’re gonna do. How does everybody feel about it? Let’s take a vote and finalize it,’” Atencio told host Gabriel Morency.