Vitor Belfort

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Vitor Belfort
Statistics
Nickname	The Phenom
Height	183 cm (6 ft)
Weight	93 kg (205 lb)
Born	April 1, 1978
Town of birth	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Fighting style	Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Boxing
Mixed martial arts record
Wins	14
By knockout	9
By submission	2
Losses	8
Draws	0
No contests	0

Vitor Vieira Belfort (born April 1, 1978 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 a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

1 Biography
2 Personal Life
3 MMA record
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Biography

Belfort studied in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu with the Gracie family, namely Carlson Gracie. He received a black belt under Carlson.

At the age of 19, Vitor came to the US to compete. In his first sanctioned mixed martial arts match at an event called Superbrawl in Hawaii, his opponent was Jon Hess, whom the young Brazilian defeated in 12 seconds by KO.

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. 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. Belfort was upset 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 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu sparring match.

A year later, Belfort faced rising Brazilian star Wanderlei Silva in the UFC. Catching Silva early with a left cross, he chased him across the ring with punches and pinned Silva against the fence, TKO-ing the Brazilian in 44 seconds.

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 in PRIDE were by decision.

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 required surgery. Belfort eventually returned and 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 2, 2004 against Randy Couture, a rematch, after Vitor lost the first. Despite agonizing over his sister Priscila Belfort who disappeared on January 9, 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 21, 2004. Couture didn't consider that fight to be the rubber match, but rather a continuation of the second fight. Couture won via doctor stoppage after the third round, due to accumulated punishment and a cut which was opened by Couture.

(As of March 28, 2006, Priscila is presumed by Brazilian authorities to have been kidnapped and killed, by suspected drug dealers.[1])

His next fight was in the UFC against Tito Ortiz on February 5, 2005, Belfort lost by split decision. Many believed Belfort should have won the 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.

On December 3, 2005 Belfort fought Antony Rea and defeated him via KO at Cage Rage 14 in the second round.

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.

His next MMA fight was at the Strikeforce "Revenge" show on June 09, 2006: a rematch against Alistair Overeem. Belfort lost by unanimous decision.

On July 2, 2006, Vitor defeated the veteran Yoshiki Takahashi via KO in 36 seconds of the first round of PRIDE Critical Countdown Absolute.

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. [2] In his defense, Belfort argued that he purchased an over the counter supplement known as 'Max Tribustak' at Max Muscle in La Habra, California, which contains 4-Hydroxytestosterone. Belfort also explained that he may have received 4-Hydroxytestosteronesaid 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 NSAC eventually received a statement from Dr. Greco stating that he did give Belfort post surgical injections containing testosterone. 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. [3].

Vitor Belfort will fight Ivan Serati at Cage Rage 21 in England on April 21.

[edit] Personal Life

Belfort is married to Joana Prado and together they have a son named Davi, who was born February 6, 2005. She is an adult movie star and model in Brazil.

On January 9th 2004 Vitor's sister, Priscila Belfort was kidnapped - Still no news as to her whereabouts.

Vitor Belfort is Brazilian, being born in Curtiba, Brazil.

Vitor Belfort speaks Portuguese and English.

Vitor Belfort is a big man and a dangerous boxer. Although Belfort has experience, Tito Ortiz defeated him, controversially, Chuck Lidell challenged him and Belfort lost. He did defeat Randy "The Natural" Couture, however Couture responded with two wins over Belfort. Vitor Belfort has fought in various events since the UFC, all including: PRIDE, CR, and Strikeforce. It would not be suprising for Vitor to fight in the UFC, due to PRIDE being bought out by the UFC.

[edit] MMA record

14 Wins (9 (T)KOs, 2 submissions, 3 decisions), 8 Losses (2 (T)KOs, 1 submission, 5 decisions), 0 Draws.
Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Method	Round	Time	Notes
10/21/2006	Loss	Dan Henderson	PRIDE 32 - The Real Deal	Decision	3	5:00
7/2/2006	Win	Yoshiki Takahashi	PRIDE Critical Countdown Absolute	KO (Punch)	1	0:36
6/9/2006	Loss	Alistair Overeem	Strikeforce: Revenge	Decision	3	5:00
12/3/2005	Win	Antony Rea	CR 14 Punishment	KO	2	1:30
4/23/2005	Loss	Alistair Overeem	PRIDE Total Elimination 2005	Submission (Guillotine Choke)	1	9:36
2/5/2005	Loss	Tito Ortiz	UFC 51	Decision (Split)	3	5:00
8/21/2004	Loss	Randy Couture	UFC 49	TKO (Doctor Stoppage)	3	5:00	Lost UFC Light Heavyweight Title
1/31/2004	Win	Randy Couture	UFC 46	TKO (Cut)	1	0:49	Won UFC Light Heavyweight Title
6/6/2003	Win	Marvin Eastman	UFC 43	TKO (Strikes)	1	1:07
6/22/2002	Loss	Chuck Liddell	UFC 37.5: As Real As It Gets	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
5/27/2001	Win	Heath Herring	PRIDE 14 Clash of the Titans	Decision	3	5:00
3/25/2001	Win	Bobby Southworth	PRIDE 13 Collision Course	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	1	4:09
8/27/2000	Win	Daijiro Matsui	PRIDE 10 Return of the Warriors	Decision	2	10:00
6/4/2000	Win	Gilbert Yvel	PRIDE 9 New Blood	Decision	2	10:00
4/29/1999	Loss	Kazushi Sakuraba	PRIDE 5	Decision	2	10:00
16/10/1998	Win	Wanderlei Silva	UFC Brazil: Ultimate Brazil	TKO (Strikes)	1	0:44
10/17/1997	Win	Joe Charles	UFC Japan: Ultimate Japan 1	Submission (Armbar)	1	8:16
10/17/1997	Loss	Randy Couture	UFC 15: Collision Course	TKO (Strikes)	1	8:16
5/30/1997	Win	David Abbott	UFC 13: The Ultimate Force	TKO (Strikes)	1	0:52
2/7/1997	Win	Scott Ferrozzo	UFC 12: Judgement Day	TKO (Strikes)	1	0:43
2/7/1997	Win	Tra Telligman	UFC 12: Judgement Day	TKO (Cut)	1	1:17
10/11/1996	Win	Jon Hess	SB 2-SuperBrawl 2	KO (Punches)	1	0:12