The union between coach and fighter has been productive. Belfort earned three knockouts in three fights while under Tompkins' watch. But with Belfort in the midst of preparation for the biggest match of his career a UFC 126 title shot against champ Anderson Silva the partnership is apparently over.
On the Tuesday edition of The Fight Show with Mauro Ranallo, Tompkins briefly addressed the situation, as well as the recent story that Belfort was training with former boxing great Mike Tyson.
"Well, you know, Vitor's done this before. Vitor sometimes, he gets a little clouded in his head," Tompkins said. "It's not that he brought in Mike Tyson or anything like that. Vitor just wanders, you know, and he goes where what's happening, what's famous, what's popular and he'll go over there. Mike Tyson isn't teaching him anything. Neither is the other eight gyms that he's training at. Just because he's over at Couture's and not with me doesn't mean he's with Couture. Vitor isn't loyal to anybody. We've seen it before."
The middleweight star hasn't fought since a Sept. 2009 knockout over Rich Franklin at UFC 103.
Since then, two dates with divisional champion Silva have been postponed by injuries. Belfort and Tompkins were still working together in the fall of 2010, but now, Belfort's gone in another direction, much to the chagrin of his former trainer.
"I hope for the best for him, but you know, for a guy who told me about respect, loyalty, and God and all this stuff for so many years, he sure did prove the opposite," Tompkins said. "So, we'll see. Best of luck to him. Best of luck to Anderson, as well."
Belfort is reportedly training his striking under Xtreme Couture coach Gil Martinez, a well-respected trainer who most recently prepared Gray Maynard for his title shot against Frankie Edgar.
Source: mmafighting.com
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