The Sprawl 09.05.09: Volume 32 - The Road Back For The Phenom
Posted by Alex Mattis on 09.05.2009
Vitor Belfort will return to the UFC in just a few weeks; in the vein of that this week's edition of "The Sprawl" will cover the rocky career of Vitor and his road back to the octagon. The ups, the downs, and whether or not Vitor can still be relevant. In addition, a brief look at the Fedor-Brett Rogers showdown. Come on in!
Hello all and welcome back to "The Sprawl!" First and foremost I have to acknowledge King Mo for reaching new levels of amazatude this past Friday at the M-1 Breakthrough event. His obscure reference to "Brutus Beefcake'n" Don Frye's mustache earned him a standing slow-clap. Tremendous. Anywhoo... on to this week. In just two weeks the UFC will see the return of "The Phenom" Vitor Belfort. This return has grabbed the attention of many hardcore fans and fighters alike. While his fight with Rich Franklin may not posses the most mainstream appeal, it is certainly an interesting match up that will answer many questions. On this week's edition of "The Sprawl" we'll take a look at Vitor's long road to a UFC return. LET'S GET DOWN TO IT!!!
The date was October 17th, 1997. A relative new-comer named Randy Couture stood waiting in the Octagon for the arrival of a "Phenom." At this point in time the UFC, and MMA in general, was still in its infancy and one of its first stand-outs was Vitor Belfort. This fight happened at a time when Belfort was looked at the same way as "a young Mike Tyson" was in boxing as Joe Rogan perfectly described on the UFC Top 100 Countdown. Belfort had blitzkrieg'd through his first four opponents in MMA competition, finishing them all shortly into the first round. As fate would have it another legend would be made on 10/17/1997 as Randy Couture smashed the then seemingly invincible fighter. This first, pivotal loss for Vitor would set into motion his notoriously rocky career.
Vitor came back to win his next two fights in the UFC in dominating fashion, one with a iconic KO of MMA legend Wanderlei Silva. After the destruction of Silva it was off to Japan for "The Phenom." Vitor competed in five PRIDE events from 1999 to 2001 and went 4-1 in the company. Though he lost in his company debut to Japanese hero Kazushi Sakuraba, Vitor was able to rack up some impressive wins during his time in Japan including victories over dangerous striker Gilbert Yvel and veteran heavyweight Heath Herring. The successful stint in PRIDE landed Belfort a spot back on the UFC's roster. His return fight was, at that point, one of the biggest in the company's history due to the fact that it was broadcast on Fox Sports Net, which was huge for the UFC and MMA at that time. In the main event of UFC 37.5 Vitor took on rising star Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell. The two engaged in a classic slugfest that still makes highlights reels today; but despite a valiant effort, after three rounds Liddell was declared the winner by unanimous decision.
After losing to Liddell in 2002 Belfort took spent a year away from the UFC. He returned at UFC 43 in June of 2003 and was pitted against Marvin Eastman. It was another classic performance by Belfort as he starched Eastman with a barrage of strikes that left Marvin with the most horrific cut I have ever seen in combat sports. This victory set up a light heavyweight title fight at UFC 46 between Belfort and a familiar opponent, reigning champion Randy Couture. In one of the most controversial title changes in history Vitor was declared the winner less than a minute into the fight after landing a punch that cut the eye of Couture. Agree or disagree the fact the remains that Belfort will go down in history as a UFC light heavyweight champion. Vitor was unable to hold on to the gold for too long as at UFC 49 Couture beat him to bloody pulp and regained the title. After this decimation Belfort had his last fight inside the octagon at UFC 51 when he squared off with Tito Ortiz. After a fantastic fight that saw Vitor nearly finish Tito in the second round, Ortiz wound up winning a split decision. It was the last time the UFC would see Vitor for over four years.
Since the loss to Ortiz, Vitor has gone 6-3 in MMA competition. Bumps in the road were hit as Vitor saw losses to top notch opponents in Alistar Overeem and Dan Henderson. The consensus after the loss to Danny, at least from where I was sitting, was that Belfort was done. Funny how things work out; since that loss Vitor has gone 4-0 in MMA competition. His two most recent wins occurred in the now deceased Affliction promotion and truly showed resemblances to the Vitor of old. At "Affliction: Banned" Belfort knocked out Terry Martin in the 2nd round with a devastating combination. Six months later at the "Day of Reckoning" event he was standing across the ring from the Olympic wrestler, and well-known wet blanket, Matt Lindland. This was a huge fight for both men as Belfort had something to prove and Lindland was looking to keep his ranking and relevance in the middleweight division. In just 37 seconds Vitor K'd Lindland TFO... seriously... one of the nastiest knockouts you will ever see. This victory boosted Vitor back into rankings across the world and showed that with his new home at 185 he is far from done. Affliction, of course, died and the majority of their fighter contracts were absorbed by the UFC giving many first-time opportunities to young fighters or in some cases, like Vitor's, another shot at reaching the top.
Seriously Matt, could you have picked a worse time to do your Bushwhacker Luke impression?
On September 13th Vitor Belfort will step back into the UFC's octagon attempting to silence many critics and answer all questions. The main key for Vitor in this fight is to not be consumed with proving that "he is back," he just needs to focus on preparing and getting the best possible shape he can be in. This is a chance for Vitor to start a new chapter and beating Rich Franklin would be HUGE for him, of course being Rich is much easier said than done. Vitor is still a young guy only being 33-years-old and his new found home at middleweight has proven, at least thus far, to be a great career move. If he can pull together all his talent, ripen himself, and defeat Rich Franklin it will truly show that Vitor is still very relevant in this sport and could become an elite fighter in the UFC. It seems Vitor has gotten over all his metal and physical roadblocks but is he still "The Phenom?"
Quick thoughts on the announcement of the Fedor-Brett Rogers fight
When Strikeforce acquire Fedor most knew this fight was going to happen as it is the biggest the company can have. I've got to be honest, I'm glad this fight is happening and I'm glad it is happening so soon. With the Strikeforce heavyweight title serving no purpose other than keeping Overeem's papers weighted down, it's important that they have some big heavyweight fights and believe me this is the biggest. Brett Rogers and Jake Shields are truly the only "home-grown" guys the company has so I understand Strikeforce's desire to pit "their guys" against the best in the world. This is their was of saying "Hey! Our guys are good too! Is anyone listening?" As much as I'd like, I doubt we're going to be seeing Shields-GSP anytime soon so let's just take Rogers-Fedor for now, sound good? I thought so. It should be an exciting fight while it lasts, a huge event for Strikeforce, and the chance of a lifetime for Rogers. With all that being said... Fedor by whatever he wants, whenever he wants.
Well, that's all for me this week.
This Week's Top 5: The Top 5 Reason I Loathed "Halloween II"
5. No explanation of how Myers survived being shot in the face with a magnum.
4. Rob Zombie's wife serving in a pointless yet dominating role after being killed in the first movie while Malcolm McDowell was barely used and the scenes he was in had no point.
3. This movie was WAY too violent, and from a gore-a-holic like myself that's saying a lot.
2. The uber-predictable ending.
1. The fact that this movie shattered all hope that had been built in my mind after seeing RZ's first Halloween.
What did you think Anderson?
Remember feedback, as always, is welcome at slash_632@hotmail.com or directly below.
