Belfort: I'm not technically retiring, but UFC 224 'is my last fight'

It appears Saturday's bout at UFC 224 against fellow Brazilian MMA legend Lyoto Machida will be the last time Vitor Belfort fights in the Octagon.

The 41-year-old has been flirting with retirement over his last few fights, supposedly scheduling a bout with Uriah Hall to be his swan song in January before a bad weight cut pulled his opponent from the card. Belfort is ready to admit he will be walking to the cage for the last time Saturday, but he's staying away from the word "retirement."

"I'm not retiring because when you retire, you're still getting paid," Belfort told MMAjunkie's Dann Stupp and Fernanda Prates on Tuesday. "I'm not getting paid, so I'm not retiring."

While Belfort may be a little hung up on the technicalities of retiring without a pension, he says facing Machida will be his final fight.

"That's important because people say, 'OK, what's the legacy you're leaving?' Legacy is not what I did for myself. It’s what I’m doing for the next generation," Belfort said. "So I think I'm leaving one of the biggest legacies in the sport, for sure, worldwide. And I'm not retiring because I'm not getting paid after I finish (fighting), so I'm looking for jobs. I'm looking for opportunities.

"But this is my last fight, for sure, and I'm very content with what I accomplished in this sport. But I still believe I can contribute so much with the sport, and I love what the UFC is doing, creating the (UFC Performance Institute) and creating all that. But we have so much left to do."

Belfort enters UFC 224 as a former light heavyweight champion and middleweight title challenger with a record of 26 wins, 13 losses, and one no-contest. He began fighting in MMA in 1996, making his UFC debut in his second career fight.