The long, up and down career of Vitor Belfort
There have been few constants in the career of mixed martial artist Vitor Belfort. Even his getting a title shot wasn’t simple.
He finally got his title shot after knocking out Rich Franklin with his fast hands at UFC 103, and earned his shot at the Ultimate Fighting Championships belt. That was until Anderson Silva, the belt holder,
injured himself, postponing Belfort's shot until UFC 112, this past April. Another injury further postponed the fight, and it seemed like the fight would never come to light.
Then Chael Sonnen stepped up for his own shot at Silva’s belt, and put on such a great performance against Silva that he earned a rematch following his defeat, and Belfort’s title shot was officially quashed
by the UFC. He’d once again have to fight in a title eliminator bout, against the very tough Yushin Okami at UFC 122 in October.
But fate and chance kicked in again, giving him another chance. This came in the form of
Sonnen testing
positive for a steroid test, which cancelled Sonnen’s second shot at the belt. As a result, Belfort’s been officially green-lighted to take on his fellow Brazilian sensational striker.
Belfort’s beginnings
Belfort has always had fast hands. Of that there is no question, and he would go on to prove it early. His first three opponents lasted a total of 184 seconds against him, and all of them fell victim to his
fists. He picked up the UFC 12 tournament trophy along the way in 1997, and then faced Randy Couture as a heavy favourite at UFC 15. As it happened so often, he went from a great height to fast drop. Couture out-wrestled him and stopped him in the first round.
He didn’t stay down for long, and picked up two straight wins, including one against MMA legend Wanderlei Silva. He then lost to Kazushi Sakuraba and found himself at the bottom again.
He went on to string together a few wins, and then lost to Chuck Liddell.
He went on to win the UFC light heavyweight title by accidentally opening a cut over Couture’s eye with the seam of his glove, but then lost it again to Couture. He then lost four fights of six, hitting
rock bottom after the sixth fight of that skid in October 2006. He tested positive for steroids afterwards and was suspended, after having left the UFC.
At 29, he was supposed to be peaking and he was troughing. Would he ever regain his top form? It didn’t seem likely.
Then his blazing hands started picking up again. In 2007, he stopped Ivan Serati in the first round, and took a decision over James Zikic. In 2008, he made his middleweight (185lb) debut, knocking out Terry
Martin.
Then in January, he faced off against Matt Lindland, considered one of the top three UFC fighters. It was supposed to be like Belfort-Couture I, with Lindland out-wrestling Belfort just like Couture did.
Instead, Belfort knocked him out in 37 seconds, leaving him dazed on the mat minutes afterwards. Then came his return to the UFC and his victory against Franklin, and his (eventual) shot at the belt.
Belfort’s chance
Now the 33-year-old has finally been given one last shot at glory. His wrestling game is still lacking, but he still has his fast hands. Against Silva, a fellow stand-up fighter, he has a better chance than
against many wrestlers in the division.
In other words, after hitting bottom more than once, Wednesday’s announcement confirmed that Belfort will get a shot to touch the top in October. It may well be his last.
Then again, with Belfort, one never knows.
The long, up and down career of Vitor Belfort
There have been few constants in the career of mixed martial artist Vitor Belfort. Even his getting a title shot wasn’t simple.
He got one after knocking out Rich Franklin with his fast hands at UFC 103, and earned his shot at the Ultimate Fighting Championships belt. That is, until Anderson Silva, the belt holder, injured himself. That postponed his shot until UFC 112, this April.
But before the fight he injured his shoulder, pushing it back further.
It seemed done, pushing what seemed like maybe the last great opportunity of his career back indefinitely at least. Chael Sonnen stepped for his own shot at Silva’s belt, and put on such a great performance against Silva that even in defeat he earned a rematch,
and Belfort’s title shot was officially quashed by the UFC. He’d once again have to fight in a title eliminator bout, against the very tough Yushin Okami at UFC 122 in October.
But then fate and chance kicked in again, giving him another chance in the form of a positive steroid test for Sonnen, which cancelled Sonnen’s second shot at the belt. And Belfort’s been officially green-lighted to take on his fellow Brazilian sensational
striker. Even the biggest chance of his career had some up and downs, but it’s nothing compared to the rest of his career.
Belfort’s beginnings
Belfort always had blazing fast hands. Of that there is no question, and he would go on to prove it early. His first three opponents last a total of 184 seconds against him, and all of them fell victim to his fists. He picked up the UFC 12 tournament trophy
along the way in 1997, and then came in against Randy Couture as a heavy favourite at UFC 15. As it happened so often, he went from a great height to fast drop. Couture outwrestled him and stopped him in the first round.
He didn’t stay down for long, and picked up two straight wins, including one against MMA legend Wanderlei Silva. But then he lost to Kazushi Sakuraba and found himself at the bottom again.
He’d go up and down, up and down. He’d string together wins, and then lose to Chuck Liddell. He won the UFC light heavyweight title by accidentally opening a cut over Couture’s eye with the seam of his glove, but then lost it back to Couture, and lost three
fights in a row and four of six, hitting rock bottom after the sixth fight of that skid in October 2006, testing positive for steroids afterwards and being suspended, after having left the UFC.
At 29, he was supposed to be peaking and he was troughing. Would he ever regain his top form? It didn’t seem likely.
Then his blazing hands started picking up again. In 2007 he stopped Ivan Serati in the first round, and took a decision over James Zikic. In 2008 he made his middleweight (185lb) debut, knocking out Terry Martin.
Then in January he faced off against Matt Lindland, considered one of the top three fighters. It was supposed to be like Belfort-Couture I, with Lindland outwrestling Belfort just like Couture did. Instead Belfort knocked him out in 37 seconds, leaving him
dazed on the mat minutes afterwards. Then came his return to the UFC and his victory against Franklin, and his (eventual) shot at the belt.
Belfort’s chance
Now the 33-year-old has finally been given one last shot at glory. His wrestling game is still lacking, but he still has his fast hands. Against Silva, a fellow stand up fighter, he has a better chance than against many wrestlers in the division.
In other words, after hitting bottom more than once, Wednesday’s announcement that he’ll get a title shot means finally Belfort will get a shot to touch the top in October. It may be his last.
Then again, with Belfort, one never knows.
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