Vitor Belfort

Vitor Belfort
Vitor Belfort
Statistics
Nickname	The Phenom
Height	183 cm (6 ft)
Weight	84 kg (185 lb)
Nationality	Brazilian
Born	April 1, 1977 (age 31)
Town of birth	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Team/Association	Xtreme Couture
Fighting style	Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Boxing
Mixed martial arts record
Wins	17
By knockout	11
By submission	2
Losses	8
Draws	0
No contests	0

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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 is the current Cage Rage light heavyweight champion.

[edit] Biography

Belfort studied in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu with the Gracie family, namely Carlson Gracie. He received a black belt under Carlson.^[1]

He currently trains out of Xtreme Couture,^[2] fighting as a middleweight.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 being stomped and kicked by Sakuraba in his legs whilst he laid on his back for the remainder of the fight. Following the fight he stopped training with Carlson Gracie and started to train with Brazilian Top Team.

He fought five more times in PRIDE against Gilbert Yvel, Daijiro Matsui, Bobby Southworth, Yoshiki Takahashi, and Heath Herring. For these matches Belfort utilized his stand up striking skills less and instead controlled the fights and won by ground and pound tactics. With the exception of his fights with Bobby Southworth and Yoshiki Takahashi, (which he won via rear naked choke and Knockout in the first round), all his wins in PRIDE were by decision.

In PRIDE 9 - New Blood- in the last minute of the first round vs. Gilbert Yvel after dominating the majority of the match Vitor repeatedly kisses his exhausted opponent, challenging him to stand on his feet.^[3]

[edit] 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 (losing 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, 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.

[edit] Pro Boxing

On April 11, 2006 Vitor fought in his pro boxing debut against Josemario Neves. Belfort won by TKO 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]}

[edit] Steroid Controversy

At PRIDE 32: The Real Deal on October 21, 2006, Belfort lost a unanimous decision to PRIDE Welterweight Champion Dan Henderson. 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.^[4] 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].

[edit] 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 apologized to the crowd for not putting on a good show but promised a better fight next time.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Affliction

Vitor had a brief time training for his Affliction fight against Terry Martin with Chute Boxe in Brazil. However, found himself training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas for preparation. Shawn Tomkins and Randy Couture helped train him for the fight in which he got a second round KO by landing a flying knee and following up with an uppercut straight-left combination.

After the fight Randy Couture said Vitor was thinking about moving to Las Vegas and training at Xtreme Couture full time.

Vitor's next fight was slated to be against Matt Lindland at the second Affliction event, however he was forced to pull out, due to a hand-injury sustained during the Terry Martin fight. The second Affliction event was postponed anyway and rescheduled for January 2009, enabling Vitor to fight on that card.

After rumours of a possible bout with reigning Dream Middleweight Grand Prix winner Gegard Mousasi were circulating, it has been announced that Vitor will fight Matt Lindland at Affliction : Day of Reckoning. Lindland was originally slated to fight Renato "Babalu' Sobral at a catchweight, but promoters of Affliction preferred the Belfort Vs. Lindland fight at Middleweight.

[edit] 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^[5]. 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^[6] 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]}

[edit] Championships

UFC 12 heavyweight tournament champion
UFC light heavyweight champion
current Cage Rage light heavyweight champion

[edit] MMA record

Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Method	Round	Time	Other
17 Wins (11 (T) KOs, 2 submissions, 4 decisions), 8 Losses (2 (T) KOs, 1 submission, 5 decisions), 0 Draws.
1/22/2009	N/A	Matt Lindland	Affliction: Day of Reckoning
7/19/2008	Win	Terry Martin	Affliction: Banned	KO (Punches)	2	3:12
9/22/2007	Win	James Zikic	Cage Rage 23	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00	Won Cage Rage light heavyweight title
4/21/2007	Win	Ivan Serati	Cage Rage 21	TKO (Punches)	1	3:47
10/21/2006	Loss	Dan Henderson	PRIDE 32 - The Real Deal	Decision (Unanimous)	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 (Unanimous)	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 (Unanimous)	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 (Unanimous)	2	10:00
6/4/2000	Win	Gilbert Yvel	PRIDE 9 New Blood	Decision (Unanimous)	2	10:00
4/29/1999	Loss	Kazushi Sakuraba	PRIDE 5	Decision (Unanimous)	2	10:00
16/10/1998	Win	Wanderlei Silva	UFC Brazil: Ultimate Brazil	TKO (Strikes)	1	0:44
12/21/1997	Win	Joe Charles	UFC Japan: Ultimate Japan 1	Submission (Armbar)	1	4:03
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	Won UFC 12 heavyweight tournament
2/7/1997	Win	Tra Telligman	UFC 12: Judgement Day	TKO (Strikes)	1	1:17
10/11/1996	Win	Jon Hess	SB 2-SuperBrawl 2	KO (Punches)	1	0:12