Vitor Belfort, 39, är bekymrad över de stora pengar han lägger på träningsläger.
Därför föreslår han nu att fansen ska hjälpa honom täcka utgifterna, som ett sätt att stötta Belforts karriär.
Vitor Belfort (25-11) förklarar sin idé i en intervju med Combate.
För att förtydliga sin poäng drar Belfort parareller till kostnaderna som den kontroversielle amerikanske presidentkandidaten Donald Trumps kampanj står för:
”If Donald Trump, a guy who has 10 billion dollars, needs to raise money for his campaign, I’ll show how much I spend on a training camp, I’ll put that up on the internet and I’ll give people the chance to contribute. Families, children, whoever wants to help. Any Vitor Belfort fan will be able to help, like soccer fans do with their teams. It’s a way of saying ‘I was part of this’. I believe in investing a lot. That’s very important.”
Belfort tror att ärlighet skulle vara nyckeln i en sådan kampanj:
”If presidents like Trump and Hillary Clinton need to raise money for marketing , I’ll show how much I need and how much I spend. I think it’s fair. When you go to church, you must contribute. I think the most honest thing a man can do is show the numbers. The most important thing is to be honest. If you’re straightforward, people will want to contribute. I have one million and 400 thousand Twitter followers. If everyone one of them paid one dollar, how much would I have? It costs nothing. Who doesn’t have a dollar to give? You could make a business out of this and help more athletes. If you give money to a guy who knows how to do it, it will work. I think I have the right mind to make it happen.”
Om det skulle bli verklighet av Belforts idé tror ”The Phenom” att han skulle kunna göra ännu mer för sina fans, som att ge ut biljetter, äta lunch, och liknande.
”You could have dinners, meet ups, etc. The fan, like an owner of the club, has access to a ticket. I have to buy tickets for my friends when they want to see me. Many people say ‘Vitor only gave me a ticket’, but I paid a fortune for that ticket. I wish I could give discounts or let people in for free. But only to put on a show for people who contributed. These are your fans, you must do your best for these people. There are plenty of ways to give back to them.”
Vitor Belfort möter Ronaldo ”Jacare” Souza (22-4, 1 NC) i den delade huvudmatchen under morgondagens UFC 198: Werdum vs Miocic.
Läs intressanta fight-fakta om matchingen här.
Matchkortet för UFC 198:
Huvudkortet – 04.00
- Tungvikt – #C Fabricio Werdum vs. Stipe Miocic #2
- Odds: 1.63 vs 2.33
- Mellanvikt – #2 Ronaldo Souza vs. Vitor Belfort #3
- Odds: 1.33 vs 3.45
- Catchvikt – (140 lbs) Cris Cyborg vs. Leslie Smith
- Odds: 1.07 vs 9.30
- Lätttungvikt – #8 Maurício Rua vs. Corey Anderson #12
- Odds: 2.83 vs 1.45
- Weltervikt – Warlley Alves vs. Bryan Barberena
- Odds: 1.20 vs 4.81
Underkortet – 02.00
- Weltervikt – #6 Demian Maia vs. Matt Brown #8
- Odds: 1.33 vs 3.45
- Mellanvikt – Thiago Santos vs. Nate Marquardt
- Odds: 1.27 vs 3.93
- Lättvikt – Francisco Trinaldo vs. Yancy Medeiros
- Odds: 1.47 vs 2.76
- Bantamvikt – #12 John Lineker vs. Rob Font
- Odds: 1.55 vs 2.52
Underkortet – 00.15
- Lätt Tungvikt – #10 Patrick Cummins vs. Antônio Rogério Nogueira #11
- Odds: 1.43 vs 2.92
- Weltervikt – Sérgio Moraes vs. Luan Chagas
- Odds: 1.23 vs 4.37
- Fjädertvikt – Renato Moicano vs. Zubaira Tukhugov
- Odds: 2.57 vs 1.53
