by JOHN HEINIS

By Shaun Al-Shatti

At the very least, Vitor Belfort and UFC President Dana White agree on one thing — Belfort is the middleweight division’s No. 1 contender.

White repeated that sentiment on Tuesday, stating on a conference call that Belfort “definitely” still held claim to middleweight’s top spot, despite his upcoming light heavyweight bout against Dan Henderson.

Where the two sides differ, though, is whether Belfort’s UFC Fight Night 32 date with Henderson has the chance to affect his 185-pound ranking.

“If [Belfort] loses to Dan Henderson, could he still fight for the title? No, I don’t think so,” White said.

“Vitor’s got to win the fight. This isn’t one of those fights where he’s moving up to light heavyweight to fight Jon Jones. He’s fighting another 185-pounder. They just decided not to cut weight, to fight at 205.”

In the wake of spectacular knockout wins over Michael Bisping and Luke Rockholdearlier this year, Belfort (23-10) campaigned aggressively for a middleweight title shot against the winner of Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva I. However the bizarre nature of Weidman’s victory, couple with Silva’s astonishing era of dominance, led to the booking of an immediate rematch, set for December 28, 2013.

With the middleweight division effectively on hold until then, Belfort refused to fight again at 185 pounds unless it was for a title shot, believing himself to be the division’s rightful No. 1 contender. Belfort instead offered to fight at a catchweight, light heavyweight, or even heavyweight, with the belief that a bout held in a different division would have no bearing on his middleweight standing.

“I think me and Vitor always have different ideas of what we think things mean,” White said flatly to the notion.

Regardless of any disagreements, Belfort, like Henderson, is a grizzled veteran of the sport with a career stretching back to the mid-1990′s. So while White acknowledges that Henderson should “possibly start thinking about retirement” if he loses his third fight in a row, it’s clear that White respects what Belfort has been able to accomplish during his late-career resurgence.

“The Vitor Belfort of today is nothing like the Vitor Belfort of the past,” White said. “There [used to be] lots of speculation about Vitor’s mental (game), where he was mentally when he goes into a fight. And you haven’t seen that at all lately. Mentally he is a beast, physically he is a beast. He looks more well-rounded than ever.”

Alexander Gustafsson will have to wait before getting another crack at the UFC light heavyweight title.

Jon Jones’ next title defense will be against Glover Teixeira, possibly as soon as Feb. 1 in Newark, N.J., UFC president Dana White told ESPN.com Wednesday.

“That’s what the champ wants,” White said. “We’ll probably have that fight on the Super Bowl card in New Jersey.”

White added that Gustafsson will fight again “around the same time” in his home country of Sweden, but he didn’t have an exact date or opponent lined up yet.

Jones (19-1) defeated Gustafsson (15-2) via unanimous decision last weekend at UFC 165, in what many consider to be the best light heavyweight title fight of all-time.

Team Jones initially feared he broke his left foot early in the fight, but an MRI on Wednesday revealed there was no structural damage to his foot, only deep bruising.

“Bones” told FOX Sports 1′s “UFC Tonight” on Wednesday that he initially thought the most fair thing to do was grant Gustafsson an immediate rematch because the fight was so close, however, after watching the fight over ten times since Saturday night, he now believes that he decisively won rounds two, four and five. As a result, the champion now thinks “the most fair thing to do is grant the next deserving contender” a shot at the title, he said.

That next contender is Teixeira (22-2), who has won his last 20 in a row, including five straight inside the Octagon. The Brazilian most recently defeated Ryan Bader via first-round TKO last month.

Historically, the UFC has held its Super Bowl weekend card in Las Vegas, however, since this year’s game, which will take place in New Jersey, will air on FOX, the promotion decided to move it to Newark.

Nine days prior, in Perth, Australia, Palelei slogged through the final wrestling practice of the most important camp of his career. He’d soon embark on a 30-plus hour trip across the globe to meet 21-year-old Russian prospect Nikita Krylov at UFC 164. For Palelei, it was the elusive second chance at Octagon glory he’d been working towards.

At first it didn’t feel like much. Palelei ran through a few last-second drills, swiveled his body wrong, and felt “kind of a little tear” under his left pectoral. Not exactly an ideal situation, but not the worst either. He assessed the damage, deduced it was okay then continued on to some mitt work. Everything was fine until the next morning. He couldn’t get out of bed. His breath was labored and something felt like it was blocking the air from reaching his lungs.

“We were one week out,” Palelei explained to MMAFighting.com. “I didn’t want to pull out. Imagine what the promoters, what (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva was probably going to say, having to move a lot stuff around. I had a lot of support, a lot of people that were going to make the trip over, so I didn’t want to let them down.”

Instead Palelei boarded his flight to Milwaukee and visited Dr. Michael Gordon as soon as he landed. A sports medicine specialist, Gordon works as the team doctor for the Milwaukee Bucks. Gordon ran an x-ray, but it only confirmed what already he suspected: Palelei had a fractured rib on the left side of his body, just below the nipple line.

“I asked him to give me a cortisone shot,” Palelei explained. “He said, ‘Look, I don’t want to give you the cortisone shot because if (the rib) does break off or goes into your spleen, then you won’t know about it. That could be very dangerous. Especially in the fight game, you don’t know what’s going to happen.’”

Gordon subsequently confirmed Palelei’s diagnosis in a statement to MMAFighting.com.

And so Palelei left Gordon’s office without a cortisone shot, but dead set on not letting it stop him.

Palelei made his UFC debut in late-2007, losing via TKO to Eddie Sanchez. The lackluster performance earned Palelei a pink slip, and it took him six years and 10 finishes to earn another shot. He signed with Zuffa in March, was scheduled to fight Stipe Miocic in June, but it never happened. Scheduling conflicts and injury dropouts pushed Palelei’s debut back to August, and at that point, the 36-year-old couldn’t wait any longer. As they say, the show must go on.

Palelei climbed into the cage at the BMO Harris Bradley Center ignoring the pain in his left side, but it didn’t take long for him to receive a stark reminder. Palelei shot for a takedown early in the first round. His rib met Krylov’s knee, and all he felt was a big pop.

“From there it just went downhill,” Palelei said. “I just couldn’t breathe.”

Downhill is perhaps a bit of an understatement. Though Palelei gutted his way to a third-round TKO finish, the fight embodied the very worst aspects of the heavyweight division. Palelei and Krylov, both seemingly gassed beyond belief, fought sluggish and sloppy, laboring through every exchange and wheezing at every turn.

“People say I was gassed. I wasn’t gassed. I was trying to gasp for air,” Palelei said.

“Every time he moved, my rib dug in. It was just excruciating pain.”

It got so bad, Palelei says, he couldn’t even throw a punch without feeling his windpipe close tight. Between rounds, Palelei let his corner know, “‘Man, my rib is broken.’ The ref came up and asked, ‘Are you okay?’ And my corner said, ‘Na, he’s fine. Just a little bit of a strain.’ Then I just got up for the round and said okay, let’s do it again.”

Though the fight ended violently, with Palelei flooring Krylov early in round three, the entire spectacle drew the ire of UFC President Dana White.

“You don’t want to hear my thoughts on that fight. That fight was embarrassing. That looked like a Toughman fight,” White told reporters in UFC 164′s post-fight scrum.

“They both looked sloppy. They’re exhausted, and they’re both laying on each other and stuff. You shouldn’t see that s–t in the UFC. … It was embarrassing. What do you think would happen to either one of those guys in the heavyweight division?”

For his part, Palelei understands White’s criticism.

“He’s got every right to say that. It’s his business,” Palelei said. “He’s my boss. He’s telling me, ‘I’m not happy with you. Clean the floors or whatever.’ It’s a job.

“There’s nothing wrong with what he said. He expects the best to be in the UFC, and I know I’m better than that.”

After the fight Palelei went straight to the hospital, then returned the following day because the pain had yet to subside. Two days later, he still can’t lay down, so he sleeps upright. According to multiple x-rays, the left side of Palelei’s rib is “popping out,” while the bone is “fractured and badly, badly, badly bruised.”

Doctors expect Palelei to return to training within eight weeks, with cardio work permitted at four. And yes, there will be plenty of cardio work.

The UFC is booked to visit Australia in late-December. Palelei hopes to be ready by then — if only to prove something to himself.

“I’m better than that,” he said in closing. “I mean, a win’s a win. But I know I could do better. I know, myself, I’m a professional athlete. I’m a better, more high level fighter than what I showed.

“There’s no excuses. You’ve got to come in 150-percent at all times. And I will come in 150-percent my next fight, not only for myself, but for my fans and for employer and Dana White. I want to prove to them that I am ready to step up. I’ve been waiting for this chance for three years.”