Former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort has contracted hepatitis A according to a post on his Twitter account Monday afternoon:
“I have hepatitis a. This thing hurt so bad I pray that God will take care of me . Don’t forget to pray for me.”
Belfort (19-9) is scheduled to fight Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133 on Aug. 6 in Pennsylvania. And if all goes well with his recovery he could still compete against Akiyama in August. That seems to be the Brazilian’s plans.
In fact, Belfort says he should be back in the gym training in two weeks:
“Guys I just want to let u know that this hepatitis A is easy to treat so don’t worry guys in 2 weeks I am back in the gym 08/6 ready to [fight].”
Hepatitis A should not be confused with the much more serious hepatitis B. A description of the virus is found in the Gale Encyclopedia of Children’s Health via Answers.com:
“Hepatitis A is a form of viral hepatitis also known as infectious hepatitis, due to its ability to be spread through personal contact. Hepatitis A is a milder liver disease than hepatitis B, and asymptomatic infections are very common, especially in children. Hepatitis A does not cause a carrier state or chronic liver disease. Once the infection ends, there is no lasting phase of illness. However, it is not uncommon to have a second episode of symptoms about a month after the first; this is called a relapse.”
Belfort, 34, was on a five fight win streak before losing to Anderson Silva via front kick knockout in a middleweight title fight at UFC 126 back in February.