Vitor Belfort
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Template:MMAstatsbox Vitor Vieira Belfort (born April 1, 1977 in Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who has fought both in Japan and the United States. The majority of his bouts have taken place in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and he is the former UFC light heavyweight champion . He holds notable wins over Randy Couture, Wanderlei Silva, Heath Herring, Marvin Eastman, James Zikic, Gilbert Yvel and David "Tank" Abbott. He is the current Cage Rage light heavyweight champion.
Biography
Belfort studied in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu with the Gracie family, namely Carlson Gracie. He received a black belt under Carlson.
MMA career
At the age of 19, Vitor came to the US to compete. In his first sanctioned mixed martial arts match, an event called Superbrawl in Hawaii, his opponent was Jon Hess, who the young Brazilian defeated in 12 seconds by KO.
UFC
Soon after, he moved on to compete in the UFC, where he was given the nickname The Phenom. He beat two fighters in his debut event in the UFC. Belfort's next match saw him TKO the UFC 6 runner-up David "Tank" Abbott in a non-tournament fight, knocking Tank down and finishing him with ground and pound.
In 1997 Belfort fought against American Greco-Roman wrestler Randy Couture. Belfort was upset by KO 8:16 into the match, his boxing skills negated by Couture's clinch fighting.
After this defeat, he would fight twice more in the UFC. The first of these fight was against a training partner of his, Joe Charles, who he defeated quickly via armbar without throwing a single punch. A year later, Belfort faced rising Brazilian star and future PRIDE champion Wanderlei Silva. Catching Silva early with a left cross, Belfort chased him across the ring with a flurry of punches, TKOing the Brazilian in 44 seconds.
Pride
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".[citation needed] 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 (which he won via rear naked choke in the first round), all his wins in PRIDE were by decision.
Return to the UFC
Returning to the UFC, Belfort was scheduled to fight Tito Ortiz in the main event of UFC's first Las Vegas show at UFC 33. However, he acquired an injury prior to the event that would require surgery. Belfort eventually returned and fought Chuck Liddell (lossing via decision), then Marvin Eastman (winning via TKO and opening a severe cut on Eastman's eyebrow with a knee strike).
His next was on February 2 2004, a rematch with Randy Couture for the UFC light heavyweight championship. Despite agonizing over his sister Priscila Belfort who disappeared on January 9,[citation needed] Vitor won the fight in 49 seconds after a seam from his glove cut Couture's eye leaving Couture with a corneal abrasion, prompting a referee stoppage. A third match between the two took place on August 21 2004. Couture won via doctor stoppage after the third round, recapturing the UFC light heavyweight title.
His next fight in the UFC was against Tito Ortiz on February 5 2005. Belfort broke Tito's nose with punches in the first round and nearly stopped Ortiz in the second. Unable to finish the fight, Belfort lost by split decision.
Return to PRIDE
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.
On April 11, 2006 Vitor fought in his pro boxing debut against Josemario Neves. Belfort won by KO within the first minute after knocking his opponent down three times. Although he has fought in boxing, his main interest is to fight in MMA.[citation needed]
Steroid Controversy
At PRIDE 32: The Real Deal on October 21, 2006, Belfort lost a unanimous decision to PRIDE Welterweight Champion Dan Henderson (arguably most passive performance ever by Belfort). After the fight, Belfort tested positive for an illegal substance, 4-hydroxytestosterone. [1] In his defense, Belfort argued that he purchased an over the counter supplement which contained 4-Hydroxytestosterone. Belfort also explained that he may have received 4-Hydroxytestosterone as the result of rehabilitative injections given to him by Brazilian endocrinologist Dr. Rodrigo M. Greco after his surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee in the summer of 2006. The Nevada State Athletic Commission eventually received a statement from Dr. Greco stating that he did give Belfort post surgical injections containing testosterone.[citation needed] While conceding that Belfort may have not known about the testosterone, the NSAC explained that even if Belfort was given injections by a medical practictioner who did not inform him that they contained anabolic steroids, it would still be a violation of the banned substances policy. On December 21, 2006 he was suspended for nine months from the date of the hearing and fined $10,000. [2].
Cage Rage
Vitor Belfort defeated Ivan Serati by TKO at Cage Rage 21 in England on April 21 2007.
He defeated James Zikic on September 22 2007 at Cage Rage 23 to claim the Cage Rage light heavyweight title in a unanimous decision. He entered the fight with a broken hand and during the fight threw minimal punches and focused on takedowns and ground and pound techniques. He apologised to the crowd for not putting on a good show but promised a better fight next time.[citation needed]
According to a recent interview, Vitor states EliteXC approached him to fight for the belt at 185 pounds against current champion Robbie Lawler.
Personal life
Belfort is married to Joana Prado and together they have two children, a son named Davi, who was born February 6, 2005 and a daughter named Victoria, who was born October 31, 2007[1]. Belfort also had a small part in a reality show on Brazilian television and appeared next to his wife when she was photographed for the Brazilian edition of Playboy.[citation needed]
On January 9, 2004, Vitor's sister, Priscila Belfort was kidnapped and the relatives received no information about her. In August 2007 a woman (identified as Elaine Paiva) confessed that she participated in her killing[2] and that she was kidnapped to pay off a four thousand dollar debt Paiva had with drug dealers. Paiva was arrested along with three others alleged to be involved in the kidnapping that took place in January 2004.
Vitor Belfort speaks Portuguese, English, French, and Spanish.[citation needed]
Championships
- UFC 12 heavyweight tournament champion
- UFC light heavyweight champion
- current Cage Rage light heavyweight champion