Why Vitor Belfort is fighting Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Title this Weekend
Posted on February 1, 2011, 12:23 PM by Anton GurevichOn February 5th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort will face the toughest challenge of his career, fighting Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight Title. Belfort's position as the #1 contender for the UFC Middleweight title surely raises a lot of questions, and yet, the fight against Anderson Silva is expected to be one of the most exciting fights in the history of the UFC Middleweight division.
Let's start with some interesting statistics.
Vitor Belfort never fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship as a Middleweight. Belfort's last Middleweight bout was against Matt Lindland at Affliction: Day of Reckoning, on January 24th, 2009. That's 2 years and 12 days before UFC 126. His last UFC bout was against Rich Franklin at UFC 103 on September 19th of 2009, which translates to 1 year and 4 months before UFC 126. Belfort fought only three times during the last two and half years, 6 minutes and 51 seconds in total.
So statistics-wise, having Vitor Belfort as the UFC Middleweight Title challenger makes no sense at all. But still, Belfort has a reputation of a well-rounded fighter and dangerous striker with Flash Gordon hands speed. Right now, it’s hard to think about another UFC Middleweight who has the same attributes as Vitor Belfort. “The Phenom” is a perfect match-up for Anderson Silva in any given day, so it doesn’t really matter when was his last bout.
And it puts Anderson Silva in a very risky situation. He's fighting someone who's on paper not supposed to be a challenger, but yet, someone who has a very good chance to knock him out.
It’s a classic story about a fighter who comes “out of nowhere” to defeat the ultimate champion. It will also be a very emotional moment for Vitor Belfort, as he finally gets a shot at glory after everything he experienced in his private life.
"The Spider" was in the cage against elite Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters and relentless wrestlers such as Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen, but again, he never fought someone with such an impressive KO ratio as Vitor Belfort. Yes, Patrick Cote and James Irvin are great fighters, but Belfort is quite a different specimen.
In world of pure statistics, the event would be called UFC 126: Silva vs. Okami. However, Silva vs. Belfort match-up has all the necessary attributes of an epic battle. Despite his remarkable achievements, Anderson Silva still has a lot to prove, and Vitor Belfort is the right man to test him.
Comments
I'm really happy Belfort is fighting Silva....Silva has never really faced a amazing striker...Franklin/Hendo/Griffin etc all just have good striking but Belfort has some of the best hands in MMA history and even tho he doesnt hve a MW fight in the UFC he prolly has the best chance at beating Silva
Smart move putting the fight on this weekend, get all the people waitng for superbowl to spend some money in their hotels .
Lee Muray was a pretty amazing striker
IMO okami has ah chance, more than what ppl say, even though i could se him gettin ko"ed early.
Umm...Okami has only be knocked out once and that was 2003. Nor has he ever been submitted. Any losses since 2003 have been via decision.
I don't think the Spider can beat him.
good looking guy vs the sexy alien ;silva vs belfort
"Anderson Silva still has a lot to prove"
anderson silva is (i think) 35...hes older than fedor, who apparently can retire and never have his legacy disputed, despite never fighting in the ufc...hes submitted wrestlers, ko'd strikers, never lost in the ufc has a record number of title defences etc etc etc etc....people question the callibre of some of his opponents, but at the time he fought them they were at the top, otherwise they wouldnt have got title shots, hes fought the odd can, but so has fedor has he not? they both still beat them.....forrest griffin beats rampage and shogun then anderson makes him look like someone whos never even trained in mma, he unifies the pride and ufc belts, takes the beating of a lifetime of sonnen and then submits him in one of the most dramatic moments in mma history
you dont have to like anderson silva (a lot of people dont) but how in the hell can someone say he still has a lot to prove??
I agree Partboy....he doesnt have anything to prove, great points,,,,he beating everyone in the MW division and has fought former champ n embarrassed him in the LHW division, hes top 3 greatest fighters of all time....and I accidentally hit weak instead of sharp my bad
well I do agree with your points, he had a bad year in 2010 to be fair. He put on a dancing show against maia and ran away from him half the time, then got dominated for 4 1/2 round in his next fight. Yes it was a great comeback and showed he can overcome adversity, but I think he has to redeem himself in 2011 more so than having alot to prove. lacklustre in 2010 to say the least. he'll have his chance for redemption on saturday night, so I guess we'll see. I'll look forward to it....
Great point Partyboy.
Anderson Silva has NOTHING to prove whatsoever. He has already done it all IMO.
Why to fight, if he has nothing to prove? Every fighter has something to prove. And as long as there people like me who were not impressed with Silva's Leites-Cote-Maia-Sonnen run, he has a lot to prove.
I agree. GSP hasn't lost a round in how many??? Yet he still has something to prove. Every fighter does, and its not just because fans like to criticize, but its because no fighter can perform to perfection consistently. IMO he is one of if not the most talented fighter to compete in MMA, but he does have weaknesses, and with those weaknesses come doubt. His level of competition hasn't been great (4 guys not in the UFC anymore + Hendo but hes actaully good), his stylistic matchups have been favorable, and when they haven't been, his weaknesses have shown.
This should be a good fight, and I think for the most part, Andy has the advantage on the feet. However, I personally think his wrestling isn't great, and his ground game as a hole is good but not great (his guard is very dangerous, mostly because his long legs and the threat of a triangle). When he is in any position on the ground besides full guard, he doesn't look so good to be honest. He also looks uncomfortable trading punches with south paws.
Weak me all you want, but its just my opinion on his skill set. I still think his combination of timing, speed, power, explosiveness and accuracy on the feet is second to none, and that when challenged, the best is brought out of him, so an impressive performance on Saturday would not come as a surprise to me.
@Dray12
If you said he's not the most talented guy in mma i might not of said anything but to say he's not 1 of the most talented is a joke what are smoking seriously Dray12. His strikeig is AMAZING a joy to behold and yet you say he's not one of the most talented. He rare naked chokes Hendo who just went five rounds with Rampage before taht fight. Henod got mounted numerous times against Jake Shelids a extremly talented grappler and never got subbed what does that tell you about Silva. Sumbits wrestlers and BJJ black belts of his back something that BJ Penn has never ever done in the UFC to my knowedge and consider how good his BJJ is. Like I said THE most talented maybe not but 1 of the most talented DEFINETLY.To say he's not is not even and opinion in my book just pure stupdidty. no offence intened.
Lol, I agree with everything you said, except I didn't say that :P. You just misread what I wrote, but if I actually did write what you said I myself would respond in the same way you did.
"IMO he is one of if not the most talented fighter to compete in MMA"
As in he is either the most talented, or one of the most talented. I personally tend to throw Fedor, Anderson and BJ into that kind of category. GSP is talented too, but in a different and more complicated way.
But yah anyways, I was just pointed out some of his negatives. Rich, Maia, Chael (all south paws) actually landed punches on him while standing. Daikaise made subbing him look easy, and Lutter mounted him from side control with very little resistance (then threw one of the sloppiest armbars and made one of the biggest mistakes in MMA history). Also when Hendo took him down he basically held on to him until the round ended, and Chael never even tries to pass so....All I'm saying is he is beatable and very human.
I know what I said can easily be pushed aside by good things he did, I'm just putting it out there.
@Dray12
LOL my bad maybe I shouldn't be writing too early in the morning. One thing i did forget to mention is A.Silva has a better chin than people realise mainly because he rarely gets hit with clean shots and when he does(which is not often) so it doesn't stick in people minds. I only noticed coz i've watched many of his fights more than once.
Ok and who the **** are you? Some guy that orders ppv's and watchs fight nights and sits behind his computer screen typing b/s! Anderson Silva has NOTHING to prove to you and i doubt he's really all that worried with impressing you either
and i have something to prove. that your'e a hater and That's why you have 11 weaks on you.
The reason: Who the **** else is there? Weakest division in the UFC, weakest division in the sport. Belfort didn't earn it, there's just no one else and Silva's gotta fight.
Yup. The fact Sonnen who is a middle of the road fighter at best gets a title shot and now Belfort who has how many MW fights in the UFC or how many recent fights? getting a shot shows the lack of depth. Not taking away from Silva, he still a top top fighter, but overrated IMO by some who call him the greatest. Let's see him fight Jon Jones or GSP and see how he does against real class.
OKAMI!
I think GSP would be light work.
I gotta agree, Haven't been impressed with Silva since he beat Henderson
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! "real class"
sonnen bet okami and marquardt to get his shot, credit where its due man
lets put bisping in there instead and countdown the seconds until he gets KTFO. Aside from Sonnen this will be Silvas toughest test
People are seriously underrating Belfort's wrestling ability. Mark my words.
I agree, he took down a fresh 1st round prime chuck lidell at LHW, and has shown good wrestling in other fights as well.
why the hell does everyone think that belfort has some kind of amazing speed and power he had that back in the day but he is not that fast anymore i am sick and tired of hearing about how fast he is and crap hes gonna get knocked out by Silva the end
Well, i doubt his speed has decreased all that much. He is 2 years younger then Silva. So if anything Anderson's speed has decreased more. And Vitor does have power, and power is the last thing that goes. Vitor's problem has always been mental. If anything Vitor's striking has improved, timing people, head and foot speed/movement etc. Vitor is a better wrestler, probably stronger as well. He's bjj is better then Anderson. On paper this is a very even fight. Only issues is ringrust and stamina for Vitor.
Anderson Silva WILL let me repreat that WILL have something to prove up until the door the octagon cage door closes on him and GSP!
we all know the fight is happening cause they wanna see silva do a highlight real k.o, so that calling him the p4p king can be legitimate again.