Blood On The Mat 09.17.09: Welcome Back

Posted by  on 09.17.2009

This Saturday’s UFC 103 features three veteran fighters making their return to the octagon. 411’s Adam Tool looks back at the early years for each man, and ponders whether or not they can still compete at the highest level of the sport.

Hello and welcome to Blood On The Mat. My name is Adam Tool and if you're looking for analysis on last night's Fight Night 19 or the season premiere of "The Ultimate Fighter," I'm afraid you've come to the wrong place. This column was written and posted before the conclusion of last night's events, so at this point anything I would write about them would consist entirely of wild speculation. (Can you believe Kimbo Slice won his first fight via Peruvian Necktie? Man, this sport is crazy sometimes…)


Last night on "The Ultimate Fighter" we saw three UFC veterans enter the house to try and earn a second chance inside the octagon. This Saturday's UFC 103 card features three more veterans making their return to the company, although fortunately none of them have to try and win a reality show to get their opportunity.


Belfort ponders a "Stone Cold" salute, then thinks better of it

At the top of the card we have Vitor Belfort, who is being given a hero's welcome back to the company after more than four years away. Belfort stands to make quite an impact upon his return, as a win over the very tough Rich Franklin would instantly give "The Phenom" credibility with the fans that have never seen him before.

Belfort made his UFC debut way back in February 1997, beating Tra Telligman and Scott Ferrozzo in the same night at UFC 12. Belfort only needed a total of 2 minutes to win both his fights and the heavyweight tournament. He followed that up with a win over Tank Abbott in just 52 seconds at UFC 13. He then got the first loss of his career against Randy Couture, in what would end up being the first of a trilogy of bouts with "The Natural." He then scored a win over Joe Charles (who?) followed by his now infamous 44 second destruction of Wanderlei Silva.


You can expect to see this highlight a few times on Saturday

After a 4-1 run in PRIDE (with wins over Heath Herring and Gilbert Yvel) he made his first return to the UFC only to lose to Chuck Liddell. A win over Marvin Eastman somehow got Belfort a light heavyweight title shot, and he won the belt via eye laceration against Couture. The bout's ending obviously left a bad taste in plenty of people's mouths and the two were immediately matched up again. Couture regained the belt, Belfort went on to lose to Tito Ortiz, and he hasn't been seen in the octagon since.


Alright Vitor I‘m wearing your shirt. Now are we going to get matching face tattoos?

Belfort's lone UFC title win and subsequent career was surrounded by a dark cloud in his personal life. His sister Priscilla disappeared just three weeks before his first title fight. In 2007 it was revealed that she had been kidnapped and subsequently murdered, but Belfort and his family went three years with little to no information about her whereabouts. While I can't imagine what sort of feelings they must have gone through, at least they now have some closure on this horrible event and can move on with their lives.

These days Belfort's personal life seems to be better than ever before. He's married to Brazilian model/television star Joana Prado and the couple have three children together, including a daughter named Kyara who was born this past June. Did I mention that his wife has also appeared in the Brazilian version of Playboy three times?


Now that‘s a MILF

Currently Belfort is 2-0 since dropping down to middleweight, with both wins coming via knockout against Terry Martin and Matt Lindland. Franklin, a former UFC Middleweight Champion, certainly represents the toughest test for Belfort in many years. Should Belfort win in impressive fashion, it's highly likely that he'll be cutting towards the front of the line for middleweight contenders. The UFC is in desperate need of fresh challengers for Anderson Silva, and an aggressive striker like Belfort would be the perfect fit.


Wait, the fight was today? I thought I had the whole day for frolicking at the beach?

Also making his return on the main card is former welterweight contender Frank Trigg. In addition to his accomplishments as a fighter, Trigg has long been one of the sport's most visible personalities. He's done work as a color commentator, he was co-host of PRIDE on FSN, he's appeared on several TV shows and has even done some time in the world of professional wrestling where he worked alongside his long-lost twin brother, Kurt Angle.

In the early part of his career Trigg went 10-1, with his first career loss coming against Hayato "Mach" Sakurai. His record was good enough to not only get him a ticket into the UFC, but also an immediate title shot against Matt Hughes. Trigg lost via rear naked choke, but then battled back to earn a second shot at Hughes, which he also lost by rear naked choke. Following the second loss to Hughes he was pitted against rising contender (and current welterweight king) Georges St. Pierre. For the third time in his UFC career, Trigg was defeated with a rear naked choke.


Trigg‘s three UFC losses sort of looked like this, if you replace the sweaty dudes with hot chicks in bikinis

Since his time in the octagon Trigg has gone 7-2, with losses to top ranked fighters Carlos Condit and Robbie Lawler. He's currently enjoying a nice little four-fight win streak, and by all accounts he appears to have re-dedicated himself to competing. He'll have a tough time on Saturday though, as Josh Koscheck is certainly not an easy draw for your first fight back. Trigg is a wrestler by nature, but there are few mixed-martial artists that can match the mat credentials of Koscheck.

In all honesty, I have to wonder how far Trigg can go in the shark tank that is the UFC welterweight division. He's already lost in embarrassing fashion to the man at the top, so he'll need to put together an amazing run if he wants to get anywhere near a title shot. Of course, if the fighting thing doesn't work out he could always go back to his modeling career…


Now if you'll excuse me, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit

Finally we come to Vladimir Matyushenko, who makes his return to the UFC during one of the evening's un-aired preliminary bouts. Like Belfort, Matyushenko rejoins the UFC as a result of the collapse of Affliction. While "The Janitor" may not be as big of a name as the other two returning fighters, he is still considered amongst the top light heavyweights in the world.


This other guy…not so much

Matyushenko entered the UFC back in 2001, and after beating Yuki Kondo he was given a shot at the light heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz. The two squared off in the main event of the UFC's first ever event to be sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, however most fans didn't get to see the fight as the event ran long and was cut off by PPV providers. Later fans realized that they hadn't missed much, as the Ortiz/Matyushenko bout is widely considered to be one of the most uneventful title fights in company history.

After picking up a win over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira outside of the octagon, Matyushenko then scored victories over Travis Wiuff and Pedro Rizzo. His final bout in the UFC was a clash of two Belarusian natives, as Vladimir went head-to-head with Andrei Arlovski. The fight ended just under the two minute mark, with Arlovski scoring a devastating knockout.

Not long after his departure from the UFC, Matyushenko entered the upstart IFL promotion. There he went 6-0, becoming the organizations first (and only) light heavyweight champion. When the IFL went belly-up, Matyushenko joined Affliction where he suffered his first loss in six years in a rematch with Nogueira. Since then he's bounced back with a win over former UFC competitor Jason Lambert.


The legacy of the IFL: team-based combat, weekly TV shows, and big-ass ugly belts

Matyushenko will square off with UFC newcomer Igor Pokrajac this Saturday, and by all accounts it should be Vladimir's fight to lose. He's entering one of the toughest divisions in the sport, so he'll need to put on an impressive performance if he's going to go anywhere in the crowded field at light heavyweight. At 38 years of age it's unclear just how long he intends to continue fighting, but it should be interesting to watch regardless.

All three of these fighters enter a UFC that is very different from the one they left. Each man has their share of accomplishments in the octagon, but now the time has come for them to prove that they still belong in the world's biggest MMA organization. We'll have to wait and see what happens from here, but I'm sure each of them wouldn't have signed with the company unless they thought they could get the job done.

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