Belfort is gearing up to fight in Brazil. (UFC publicity photo)

Jan. 19’s UFC on FX 7 event is right round the corner, and the main event, a middleweight tilt between Vitor Belfort and Michael Bisping, leaves fans with a question: Will the winner get a crack at the champ, Anderson Silva?

In an interview printed in Brazil’s O Dia newspaper, Belfort said that, if he’s the one to win it, he doesn’t believe he will get the shot.

“I don’t know. There’s not much I can say about what qualifies you for a shot at the title in the UFC,” he told the paper. “It hasn’t been happening much by merit, but by politics. I can’t answer you that. The one who can is Dana White. I just do my job, which is to fight and win. My right is to train and represent my country.”

The 35-year-old fighter also mentioned that he will be wearing a mohawk hairdo into the octagon and speaks highly of the training he has been doing and the shape he will be in for the fight. He also said that he plans to remain active until he’s 40 years old.

“I’ve never felt so good in my life,” he said. “There’s the ‘years of the wolf’ (loose translation of ‘idade do lobo,’ meaning between 40 and 50 years of age in Portuguese), right? Well I’m in the years of the lion. [Bisping’s] style is to talk with his mouth. I talk with my fists.”

UFC on FX 7
Ginásio do Ibirapuera, São Paulo, Brazil
January 19, 2013

• Vitor Belfort vs Michael Bisping
• Daniel Sarafian vs CB Dollaway
• Gabriel Gonzaga vs Ben Rothwell
• Thiago Tavares vs Khabib Nurmagomedov
• Godofredo Pepey vs Miltinho Vieira
• Ronny Markes vs Andrew Craig
• Diego Nunes vs Nik Lentz
• Edson Barboza vs Lucas Mineiro
• Iuri Marajó vs Pedro Nobre
• Wagner Caldeirão vs Ildemar Marajó

Lyoto, always with Brazil's colors on his short, overcame Randy Couture in his last fight. Photo: UFC.

The news broke in the “Panorama Politico” column of this Sunday’s “O Globo” newspaper. Lyoto Machida’s upcoming fight against UFC champion Jon Jones may be used as a political tool in the Brazilian state of Pará, where the karateka has lived since he was a kid and is beloved by all.

As it goes, the day after the fight, December 11, the people of Pará will head to the polls for a plebiscite to decide whether the vast state shall be split into three: Novo Pará, Tapajós, and Carajás.

Leaders of the movement against dividing the state want to convince Lyoto to be the poster boy for the campaign to say “no” to succession. Besides the former UFC champion, the campaign is trying to bring another local star on board: soccer player Paulo Henrique “Ganso”, who plays on team Santos and the Brazilian national soccer team.