Belfort stricken with hepatitis A, won't affect UFC 133 fight with Akiyama

by Steven Marrocco on Apr 25, 2011 at 8:30 pm ET

In a series of Twitter messages issued today, former UFC champion and recent contender Vitor Belfort (19-9 MMA, 8-4 UFC) revealed that he has contracted hepatitis A – a moderately serious infection caused by contaminated food or water that's often mistaken for the flu.

The illness will keep Belfort from cornering Randy Couture in Toronto this Saturday at UFC 129, though it won't endanger his fight with Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) at UFC 133, which takes place Aug. 6 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

In fact, Belfort wrote today that the illness is a minor bump in the road.

"Guys I just want to let u know that ... hepatitis A is easy to treat so don't worry, in two weeks I am back in the gym," he stated.

Belfort's fight is his first since a UFC 126 knockout loss to current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. He had been linked to a "UFC: Rio" bout with Wanderlei Silva, but "The Axe Murderer" instead successfully lobbied for a summer matchup at UFC 132 with Chris Leben.

Akiyama, who was scheduled to fight Nate Marquardt at UFC 128 before withdrawing in the wake of last month's earthquake in Japan, likely finds himself in a must-win situation. Despite a history of entertaining octagon contests, Akiyama has dropped consecutive outings to Michael Bisping and Chris Leben, and his lone UFC win came via controversial split decision in a UFC 100 bout with Alan Belcher.

For the latest on UFC 133, stay to tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

wtf is hepatitis? and how do you even get it?

Hepatitis A is a disease that attacks your liver. Usually you get that one from bad hygiene and/or poor sanitation. I remember one of my teacher back in high school got it from eating a salad at a dodgy restaurant. Apparently the lettuce was poorly washed that's how she got it.
Usually you get vaccined for it when you're a kid.

ya i remember getting a vaccine for that like a year ago
that or meningitis i dont remember which was which

Hep B is I think quite similar but you get this one from sex, blood transfusion, sharing needles. Still attacks your liver

hmm
its a shame knowing all the sicknesses and diseases the body can get
but its a miracle knowing that your body can fight it off (most of the time) even when the odds are against it 30:1!!!

Thousands of years of evolution that's the recipe for being resistant to all the shit that's trying to kill us everyday LOL

imagine how much stronger our bodies will be in another 5 million years!! lol (or have we been evolving for 8?) idk lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John Alighieri

Thousands of years of evolution that's the recipe for being resistant to all the shit that's trying to kill us everyday LOL

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pah, havent you heard bro, the worlds only like 10 thousand years old.

Lol