Vitor Belfort says Anderson Silva "got lucky" at UFC 126
Posted on February 8, 2011, 09:48 PM by Joey Santosus"Look, that kind of kick is very hard to catch, it’s also hard to fit it too, but he did it. He can use this kick, but the way he did is pretty difficult to, but he did it. I believe you only get lucky if you train. He trained and got lucky. But I think it’s something that if he tried to do in ten fights he would only be succeeded once (laughs). He deserved it. I was doing fine on the fight, I was winning it, but I wasn’t lucky to fit that punch, I missed it, that punch on the ground was really powerful. If it hits him… But it didn’t and his kick hit me hard, it was his night, I can’t help it. Everything I promised to do, I did. I didn’t get the win, but it’s part of the sport. I’ll get my chance. We’ll work now so I get it the next time."
Vitor Belfort's hopes of recapturing UFC gold were dashed this past Saturday night, when Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva knocked him out with a well-timed front kick to the face just over three-minutes into the open round. And while Belfort credits Silva's training, he also suspects a bit of luck assisted in "The Spider's" victory.
Silva's successful title defense at UFC 126 marked his 13th straight victory with the promotion, further cementing himself as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Though nothing is official at this time, a superfight against dominant Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre may be next for Silva if the French-Canadian is victorious in his upcoming match-up with Jake Shields in March.
Belfort, meanwhile, has his sights set on the promotion's return trip to Rio in August, but hopes to fight in the meantime if possible.
"Of course I’ll fight in Brazil, but I want to fight earlier. I’ll talk to Lorenzo this week, then I’ll take a two-weeks-vacation and let’s move on because the war continues - For complete interview by Guilherme Cruz, visit Tatame.com
Source: Tatame.com | Photo: Heavy.com/MMA
For complete UFC 126: Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort Photo Gallery, visit Heavy.com
Comments
Eh sounds like he's making an excuse to me.
its no excuse hes right
everyone knew the first to connect hard would be the winner
it was Silva's night and thats it.
Belfort is still the man who can KO Silva at MW
but the i would not stand still waiting for the rematch to happen
He should have been aggressive in Silvas face like Sonnen was with the kind of power Vitor has he would have been victorious , Silva was very worry but he didnt do it so Silva relax and take advantage of it and won, he was the better fighter .
Belfort will be back and if Silva moves up Belfort will be the Champion for sure!
Belfortt vs Wanderlei would be a sick fight !! perfect for Belfort to bounce back and get used to the cut weight.
Have you really thought that through?
You say he should have been aggressive with his flurries against Silva?
Do you really think aggressive striking is smart against a known counter-striker?
It worked for Sonnen because he had to worry about a bum-rush double leg takedown.
I see all the comments and I get tired.Anderson this, Vitor that. Stop making one of them look weak. Both are GREAT and earned their spot in the Dome of Greatness just like Fedor. Respect for both.It was Silva's night.I felt weird after the fight was over.I felt the same way many times before when two of my favorite fighters are fighting and one of them looses.It is like something dies in me.Felt it after Crocop vs Igor Vovchenchin fight. Anyway, between Silva or Belfort, I choose Shogun, the greatest of them all and as always Pride Forever !!!
Just for your information: Belfort was boxing and swimming @ age 12 and Silva was never a boxer. What makes Silva the fighter that he is,is his feet movement and counter striking. I love them both and respect them,I wish that the outcome was in Vitor's favor but it did not happen.
Anderson has fought in pro boxing and you can see this on youtube...
Wow, I simply informed you on Vitor's past but you got angry. By your last comment I take it, you are an expert of the art of boxing and since this is what cost Vitor the fight, I suggest you to get up from the couch and offer Vitor your Boxing tacticts. Maybe this will prevent a front karate kick in the rematch. O,and by the way, before that kick, Vitor was leading in the stand up at least in my opinion, not trying to take anything from the Spyder.
Vitor has already entered that arena, the videos are on the youtube. Internet these days! Turns out you can look things up before making statements.
Shit, I spelled Spider wrong. My bad.
I also think that Vitor ko Anderson, i actually think he is the only one in MW division who has a chance of doin it.
He simply applied the wrong strategy, and i don't know HOW he could make that mistake....
As you just said, Anderson is a great counterstriker, so who do you get Anderson to commit to his attacks??
You put his ass on the floor, Andersons TD isn't exactly his strongest point so it isn't that hard. After 2 rnds getting G'nP'nd on, then he HAS to commit and to do so he has to get closer.
Anderson was very keen on keeping the distance between himself and Vitor, and i think he did because he knows how fast Vitors hands.
We saw that his hands are way faster than Andersons, there was a combination that Anderson just avoided with movement of his upper body. When he did that, he did it at long range, not in the pocket.
Because in the pocket or at midrange those punches would have connected. Smart strategy from him, and a dumb one for Vitor.
Vitor should have taken Anderson down and laid som ground£ on him for a a couple of rounds, and that would forced Anderson to come in and commit to his attack and forget his counterstrike strategy. And when he starts commiting, then Vitor will KO him.
That's what i thought would happen, and i'm amazad that he didn't try that.
Now all respect to Anderson, he's the man and that was a sick finish.
But my point in this, yes Andersons weakness is wrestlers thats true...
But his other weakness that he has, is his overly big faith in his speeed and reflexes. He keeps his hands low and bobs and weaves, but i i've seen other fights where the biggest asset that a champ had was his speed and reflexes. Nobdy can touch him even though he is making mistakes, nobody is fast enough in their hand and feet to capitalize on those mistakes. The day when Anderson meets somebody who is faster in his hands and foot movement, and applies the Right strategy...
Then whe will be laid out cold!!!!
Do u guys know who the boxer Prince Nassem Hamed is, he knocked everybody out, was clowning around and messing with his opponents.
When he fought somebody (Marco Antonio Barrera, and almost Kevin Kelly) that was fast enough too capitalize on his mistakes then u you clearly see his flaws. I think it's the same with Anderson, he has flaws. He makes mistakes, but he is so fast and his reflexes are so good and he has his hands down by his waist. And his ego way to big so to change tactics too i think.
Just my 2 cent's.
Damn all my spelling errors, it should be i think Vitor is the only one in the MW division who has a chance of knocking Anderson out.
Yes, of course.
And thats what he did also, and Vitor had to cut him off..
Boxing is more than handspeed, but as i said thats the main reason that he kept the distance because at close range Vitor would have landed.
Vitor should cut him off, exchanged a little to set up the takedown.
If he would have done that then Anderson wouldn't have been been able to stay on the outside, and pick his shots. Because he would have a couple of rounds behind. Anderson isn't as comfortable coming forward and pressing the action, he does when he has his opponent hurt. He is not a pressure fighter, take him out of his element.
I love it when you guys weak me
YES YES!!! KEEP WEAKING ME! IT TURNS ME ON!
I JUST WEAKED MYSELF! WOOO!
@Scrapple...Ya seems like a excuse to me too...Silva KO'd him fair n square, its not lucky when u practice the move in ur training camp and were looking for a opening to throw it
silva WAS lucky...
that belfort loves feet in his mouth
8 people are suckin on vitors... toes
Vitor didn't lose to a lucky guy. He lost to a skilled guy. Anderson-motherf@#%ing-Silva!
vitor will get a shot again.
i dnt agree with the same oooorah but it may seem orthodox to try a move like that and try to figure out scenerios where it can be used, and when ur opponent is stationary and in between thoguhts of his next move that seems like a good time to throw that kick tot he face. it was skill, luck is when you do soemthing with no hope or idea that it would work, AS might not have thought that that kick would have nearly KOd Vitor but im sure he threw it with clear intentions
It seems Vitor thinks he did more in the fight than he actually did. In reality, he did the same thing every other fighter does (besides Chael) and wait for Anderson to figure out his timing and distance.
You could most definitely look at is that way. Considering he hit Anderson with his first one-two combination, but the next one he threw Anderson evaded smoothly. Right after that came the kick. It is true though that the chance a front kick like that knocks someone out is very unlikely. But I'm sure Anderson didn't throw it to try and get a KO, he threw is like he throws all his strikes, smoothly and in a flowing manner, "like water". It's never a good idea to "try" and KO somebody, it just happens.
With that said, I wouldn't mind seeing this fight again down the road if Vitor gets some impressive wins, because I still think he has a good chance at beating AS. I'd very much like to see Vitor get a win or two, and then when Chael comes back, maybe they fight for the #1 contender spot.
I'm a big fan of both fighters, and the finish was spectacular, but to be honest I was left feeling a little empty after that fight. Perhaps Anderson is just that good, or I thought to highly of Belfort. Still think Vitors got alot more to offer though....
Look at the hatred in the eyes of anderson silva on the picture ! haha ITs like he will kill Vitor ! hahaha !
I really like Vitor, he is one of my favorite fighters, but I don't agree with some of things he has been saying lately regarding his recent loss to A.S. I can understand that the great ones can really get lucky at times, however no one can really get lucky by winning 13 to 14 fights in row with 8 title defenses in this sport.
He can call it whatever he wants, but at the end of the day, a loss is a loss and he just needs to move on and start getting ready for his next fight.
C'mon Anderson much faster and I don't called that was a lucky kick.Its about good at a perfect timing is a point .imo
Doesn't sound very good but there is some truth to it.
I didn't see a lot of us calling the Anthony Pettis's kick luck, did we? I'm not saying that there wasn't some truth to it, but if you're going to call this one luck, then some of us should have said the same thing about the "Showtime" kick as well....It still landed pretty cleanly even though it didn't knock Ben Henderson out.
Beautiful comment folks, Vidor needs 2 stop bumping his **** suckers & start back training ASAP
Anderson Also got lucky with Chael, and Forest, and everyone else on his 12 fight win streak right? He better play the lottery soon because that would make him the luckiest MOFO on earth.
12 straight losers in the best MMA promotion in the world at title contention level, again that would be Megan Fox's husband Lucky.
people need to understand, that Anderson Silva is a Sniper.
He's lucky his neck didn't snap, he's lucky he didn't lose his front teeth, he's lucky that his depressed looking thick azz wife didnt leave out the ring with Silva. Have a lil class dog
anderson did get lucky!!!! vitor was dominating the whole 3 minutes of the fight. If it wasn't for that kick vitor would've finished silva off right away...........................lol HA ! wtf are ppl smoking?!?! Maybe being the only guy to get caught with that type of kick would make Vitor attribute luck to the loss. Cuz honestly I feel that Silva is the type of fighter that always picks the right attack to try to knock someone out. I don't think Silva just wanted to chuck his leg out for the hell of it or to scare Vitor.. he thought he saw an opening...and he was right. simple as that....I just thought an "elite striker" *cough* like Vitor would give Silva a little more credit
Like he said, getting a KO with that kick is very difficult. That being said, the fact that AS was on his 8th title defense against someone who was more then just a threat to his belt, and he managed to pull off such an unlikely kick, makes me think it was more skill then luck.
After seeing the stare down between Silva and Vitor I changed my pick from Rnd3 TKO to a Rnd1 TKO, i guese i'm lucky too. Silva was getting the same hate before he ''Matrixed'' Forrest and look what happend. Its no fluke the guys just unique and special. Silva always seem to make the so called toughest fights easy and the easy one hard which says alot about personality
The Spider has proven people wrong for five years and people still dont give him the respect that he deserves.Talking shit about him. Crowd always boooos him. I dont get it. He is just confident,not arrogant. If he is lucky all the time and fake and lalala. Then go and but your money on the other guy and shut up. Would love to see Wanderlei vs Belfort in Brazil.
Bitter!!!!!!!!!!
Got lucky my ass.
The kick was totally telegraphed and you could see it coming a mile away. Belfort looked like he was out before the kick hit him. You could tell the way Silva was standing and moving around that he was getting ready to fire a kick like that off. The front kick is one of the most under-used effective kicks in MMA.
Belfort is just making excuses.
got lucky?...similar to bones jones..he strike like AS! coz his strikes are crazy man...AS did something that haters cannot accept...that is beating vitor with only just a front kick in the face..come on guys..AS trained for this xit...why would AS go for an ovious kill..that would be stupid..
Honestly Vitor was super-hyped, and over-hyped I might add, in this fight. Who has Vitor really beat anytime recently? He beat Rich Franklin. In the past he cut Randy's skin with a zipper on his glove and got the championship when he was younger. Besides that, he really didn't deserve as much hype as was derived. The hype even got to me - there were times coming up to this fight where I thought it was possible to be a striking chess match.
Vitor has no reason to say Anderson got lucky, that is absurd. He practiced that kick for many hours. Were the kicks to the head that Mirko Cro Cop knocked out people with lucky? Or the punch that Belfort knocked out Franklin with? If it is a legitimate weapon in a fighter's arsenal that is practiced than it was not lucky.
this is sparta! - anderson silva
No luck! Anderson was just quicker. Quicker to land that kick after being quicker in avoiding the punch Vitor mentioned.
Belfort vs. Sonnen
pretty please with sugar on top
or
Belfort vs. Marquardt
if you have to
but no cans or set-ups please
I don't know if I would call that kick "lucky". Thats why anderson is the P4P best fighter on the planet. Yes vitor almost hit him with that shot when they went to the ground, but if you watch the video anderson saw it coming and dodged it...somehow. But the fight is over and done with. Im a fan of vitor as well but he's not making excuses, hes just regretting not being more aggressive which it would of ended the same way.
right before the kick vitor charges anderson with 3 punches and anderson deflects them with sick head movement. that's one moment when his superb skill is real evident. not luck, just no fear whatsoever and a hell of a lot of skill...
Yes Anderson Silva will always be remembered as Anderson "Lucky" Silva. Everybody knows all his wins are by luck!
Anderson Silva got lucky......at birth. Don't make excuses Belfort, you lost, move on.
The only person to get lucky in this fight was Belfort. He got lucky his head didn't tear off his spine with that kick.
c'mon luck? he trained that kick with STEVEN SEAGAL!! who been perfecting it for more than 35 years!! LMAO!
are you sure it was 35 years? ......I hear Steven doesn't keep track of space & time too well...lol
not a smart comment by vitor, but in fairness the headline is taken a bit out of context.
he didn't just say, "anderson got lucky and knocked me out."
first he said, "I believe you only get lucky if you train..." since english is not his first language, I could easily see the real intent being, "I don't really believe in just plain old luck, when someone gets lucky it's usually because they put themselves in the position to be lucky by training hard."
then he said, "he trained and got lucky." so again maybe he's saying that the luck came from training and Anderson trained hard cuz he finished me.
later he said "he deserved it."
Who has Belfort fought recently to get the title shot ?
When he was destroying everybody in the UFC, it wasn't MMA as we know it now.
He is no legend anymore
The truth is that the guy has a poor record, go to Sherdog.
Silva is a way better fighter and proved it many times
I don't think it was a question of whether or not he deserved it, I just think if your going to fight the best p4p fighter, you better be at your best. IMO Vitor should have fought one or two more times at middleweight, and not have been coming off such a huge layoff. It's especially hard to perform when you are moving down weight throughout your career.
that was an awesome kick, right before throwing it you can see anderson slightly leaning forwards, giving vitor the impression he was ready to stand toe-to-toe and throw punches, with that mindset vitor took more of a boxers stance (lowering his center of graviy/sitting down in anticipation of punching) which made a kick to the face a very practical move. WAR SILVA