Vitor Belfort
From Freepedia
| Vitor Belfort | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Nickname | The Phenom |
| Height | 6 ft (183 cm) |
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| Born | April 1, 1978 |
| Town of birth | Rio De Janeiro, Brazil |
| Fighting style | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Wins | 12 |
| By knockout | 7 |
| By submission | 2 |
| Losses | 6 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
Vitor Belfort (born April 1, 1978, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil) is an active competitor in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, and has fought both in Japan and the United States. The majority of his bouts have taken place in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) within the Light Heavyweight division.
Contents |
Biography
Belfort studied in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu with the Gracie family, namely by Carlson Gracie. He received a black belt under Carlson.
At the age of 19 years old, Vitor came to the US to compete. In his first sanctioned Mixed Martial Arts match in an event called Superbrawl in Hawaii, his opponent was John Hess, whom the young Brazilian defeated in 20 seconds by KO.
Soon after, he moved on to compete in the UFC. Around this time he was given the nickname The Phenom. He beat two fighters in his debut event in the UFC. Later he TKO-ed Tank Abbott in a non-tournament fight, knocking Tank down and using ground and pound tactics.
In 1997 Belfort fought against American Greco-Roman Wrestler Randy Couture in a title match. Belfort was beaten by TKO 8:16 into the match, his boxing skills negated by Couture's clinch and pound tactics.
After his defeat, he fought twice more in the UFC. His first fight was against a training partner of his: Joe Charles whom he defeated quickly via Armbar, without throwing a single punch. Due to the lack of punches and the fact that Charles was a training partner of Belfort, speculation arose that the matched was either a 'work', (the outcome having been arranged beforehand), or that both fighters had made a gentlemen's agreement to not strike and only participate in what was effectively a BJJ sparring match..
A year later, Belfort faced rising Brazilian star Vanderlei Silva in the UFC. Catching Silva early with a jab, he chased him across the ring with punches and pinned Silva against the fence, TKO-ing the Brazilian in less than a minute.
Vitor then moved on to fight in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships. His first opponent was Kazushi Sakuraba in 1999. Vitor controlled the first minutes of the fight before suffering a hand injury. His striking skills now limited, Belfort resorted to falling to the ground repeatedly and attempted to get Sakuraba to get into his guard. Sakuraba however, stomped and kicked Belfort in his legs whilst he lay on his back. Belfort said after the fight "I didn't fight; I survived". Following the fight he stopped training with Carlson Gracie and started to train with Brazilian Top Team.
He fought four more times in Pride against Gilbert Yvel, Daijiro Matsui, Bobby Southworth and Heath Herring. For these matches Belfort utilised his stand up striking skills less and instead controlled the fights and won by ground and pound tactics. With the exception of his fight with Bobby Southworth: where he won via Rear Naked Choke in the first round, all his wins were by decision in Pride.
Returning to the UFC, Belfort fought Chuck Liddell, (Loss via decision), then Marvin Eastman, (Win via TKO), opening a severe cut on Eastman's eyebrow with a knee strike.
His next major fight was on February 2nd 2004 against Randy Couture (a rematch, after Vitor lost the first). Vitor won the fight in 49 seconds when a seam from his glove cut Couture's eyelid, prompting a referee stoppage. Another rematch took place on August 21st 2004. Couture won via doctor stoppage after the third round, due to accumulated punishment.
His next fight was in UFC against Tito Ortiz on February 5th 2005, Belfort losing by split decision.
Belfort entered PRIDE's Middleweight Grand Prix on April 23 2005. He lost in the opening round to Dutch Golden Glory fighter Alistair Overeem via guillotine choke.
Record
12 wins (1 KO, 6 TKOs, 2 submissions, 3 decisions), 6 losses (2 TKOs, 1 submission, 3 decisions), 0 draws.
