Lyoto Machida spoke to Fox Sports through an interpreter to express his belief that Vitor Belfort deserves a title shot after Machida and Weidman do war on July 5th.

“Logically, he’s next in line,

Belfort was supposed to fight Weidman but after the TRT ban, Belfort was unable to get licensed, and as a result Machida stepped up to fight Chris Weidman for the middleweight strap.

Weidman’s wins over Anderson Silva were somewhat controversial, with many believing The Spider lost the first fight on purpose, and then a freak accident of Silva’s shin breaking in the second fight, mean Weidman won off flukes. Machida has a different opinion however.

“There’s no doubt he’s the champion,” Machida said. “He’s the best there is in the weight class right now. He won those fights. You can’t take away those merits.”