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[killakem1]

MMA News - Can Belfort Beat Silva? Five Fights To Make You Think

There’s no denying that Vitor Belfort is a dangerous opponent for anyone to engage him in fistic competition. He’s got lightning fast hands that are just about as heavy as they come at middleweight, and he’s got a ton of experience on the big stage. He’s also arguably the most explosive fighter in our sports history…sometimes.

Belfort's southpaw stance could play a major factor in this fight as well. Recall, it was a Sonnen left that first had Anderson reeling at UFC 117. While Vitor’s footwork is admittedly crafty, his willingness to trade in the pocket could spell disaster when these two finally enter the cage together; Anderson doesn’t typically spend much time in the danger zone, he lands, and disappears before the counters come flying. Perhaps most foreboding for Vitor is his cardio. Vitor has been known to fade the longer the fight lasts, and the wisely conservative Silva will likely still be wrecking machine come round five, should the fight last that long.

All that negativity out of the way, I must confront the fact that when it comes to fight ending explosions, Vitor is an absolute machine. Prior to shattering his hands a few times Vitor was rarely reluctant to unleash his extremities in a blurry eruption of violence. Now that the miles and injuries have caught up Vitor doesn’t throw with quite the same ferocity, but when he flurries, well it’s a beautiful sight.

The question is, plain and simple, can he unleash that beast that earned him the tag “Phenom” upon Silva? A few fights lead me to believe that yes, he may very well be able to. A few lead me to believe otherwise.

#1. Vitor Belfort VS Chuck Liddell (UFC 37.5):

Here’s a fight that makes me believe Vitor can definitely win this fight. While Vitor came up short on the judges cards, he managed to make the fight pretty damn competitive. He traded with Chuck, he landed, he showed a few new tricks we hadn’t really seen from Belfort at that point like a very quick high kick. He even survived a brutal shot from Liddell that floored him, given he wasn’t far from hearing the bell toll. Either way, he proved he could compete with a much younger and still incredibly durable Liddell. The bout also proved he was clearly unable to beat him.

#2. Vitor Belfort VS Dan Henderson (Pride 32):

Here’s a bout that makes you worry for Belfort. It’s not likely we’ll see Anderson Silva wrestling Vitor to the mat for five rounds, but this fight is definitely indicative of Vitor’s issues with cardio and mental fortitude. Dan Henderson wasn’t able to put Belfort away, but he was able to control where and how the fight unfolded, for the vast majority of the fight at that. In a nutshell, he really broke Belfort down. It’s a definite concern.

#3. Vitor Belfort VS Rich Franklin (UFC 103):

Here we have a fight that proves one thing: Vitor can still dispose of prime upper echelon fighters. Make no mistake about it, Rich Franklin is a dangerous fighter. He fights cautiously, but incorporates plenty of powerful offense that few shake off with no after-effect. He himself has beaten a handful of excellent opponents including Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell and Yushin Okami. All this, and Belfort destroyed him with a patented Phenom flurry that left Franklin unconscious in minutes. What it tells us about Vitor is that even an intelligent, cautious fighter can be caught when the speed is unleashed and the timing is perfect.

#4 Vitor Belfort VS Tito Ortiz (UFC 51):

This here is an extremely interesting fight. After two rounds of action the fight was up in the air, many felt Vitor was convincingly ahead on the card while some felt the two had split the rounds. Round three proved to be a clear decider: Vitor gassed, and gassed badly. He had very little left for Tito in that final frame. After hurting him on more than a single occasion early in the fight, he had faded, and Tito took control of the final round to earn a split decision. Once again, we’re talking about a completely different style clash, as well as weight class, however it’s a sign that Vitor may not take training as serious as necessary 100% of the time.

#5 Vitor Belfort VS Wanderlei Silva (UFC 17.5):

This was supposed to be a barn burner for the ages. It was supposed to be a war that ensured awe inspiring exchanges and heads of bloodshed. Instead, it ended in 44 seconds when Belfort landed a staggering amount of unanswered power punches to his fellow Brazilian foe. It was a performance that mystified viewers and proved that Belfort is capable of finishing fresh, dangerous talent. One mistake that Belfort reads in the proper time, and you might find yourself crumbled against the cage in a battered heap.

A few other fights to ponder are Vitor’s clashes with Randy Couture, in which he mentally shut down on two occasions, both defeats he suffered to fellow striker Alistair Overeem who managed to put Belfort away with a standing guillotine choke, and Vitor’s dynamic victories over Terry Martin and Matt Lindland, two very dangerous middleweights. This is one unpredictable fighter.

dont know if we are supposed to post actual news from this website but thought that it would be a good discussion......thoughts

[Qball1974]

I liked it but means nothing really lol

[packman31]

Vitor has won his last three fights, but hasn't fought since Sept 09, so maybe who knows which Vitor will show up, and ring rust is real according to every fighter. I know one thing, Anderson won't drop his hands against Vitor

[IceCold48]

Originally Posted by killakem1

MMA News - Can Belfort Beat Silva? Five Fights To Make You Think



dont know if we are supposed to post actual news from this website but thought that it would be a good discussion......thoughts

yea we definitely can post from this site im not sure why no one days. actually one time matt boone came on here and said why are you posting this article from whatever website it was when the story was broken here first.

[The Return Of......]

Originally Posted by IceCold48

yea we definitely can post from this site im not sure why no one days.

have you actually read the articles from this site???????

that should answer your question.








sorry, couldnt resist taking the shot. im bored and getting over being sick so i stayed in tonight instead of going out andgetting shitfaced

[end it with a left]

yeah most of the news articles can be found in the forums even a couple days before they hit the main site

[mma #1 fan]

One thing is for sure Silva not fought any one with the hand speed of Vitor in the UFC as of yet . Belfort wont need pin point accuracy. When you throw fifty punches in 45 sec only ten need to land . lol

[GL Jeff]

I think Vitor has a chance,but I dont think his striking it as good as it needs to be to beat Anderson. Its going to be a good fight,but ring rust will take effect,and its alot of pressure on Vitor,lets see how he does with the weight cut also,seeing as he hasnt been down to 185 in awhile.

[killakem1]

Originally Posted by IceCold48

yea we definitely can post from this site im not sure why no one days. actually one time matt boone came on here and said why are you posting this article from whatever website it was when the story was broken here first.

figured we could just notice no one ever does and thought this could bring up a good discussion

Originally Posted by The Return Of......

have you actually read the articles from this site???????

that should answer your question.








sorry, couldnt resist taking the shot. im bored and getting over being sick so i stayed in tonight instead of going out andgetting shitfaced

really there not all that bad. but i do get your point. and most of the time the articles here are posted on some other website

Originally Posted by end it with a left

yeah most of the news articles can be found in the forums even a couple days before they hit the main site

thats what im saying but the ones from the actual writers on the main site arent all that bad.

Originally Posted by mma #1 fan

One thing is for sure Silva not fought any one with the hand speed of Vitor in the UFC as of yet . Belfort wont need pin point accuracy. When you throw fifty punches in 45 sec only ten need to land . lol

i dont think silva has fought anyone with the hand speed of vitor. to my knowledge. his speed is gonna be a huge factor in this fight. his timming will be a factor too. he knows when to throw those flurrys. i got belfort winning this.

Originally Posted by GL Jeff

I think Vitor has a chance,but I dont think his striking it as good as it needs to be to beat Anderson. Its going to be a good fight,but ring rust will take effect,and its alot of pressure on Vitor,lets see how he does with the weight cut also,seeing as he hasnt been down to 185 in awhile.

yea 15-16 month lay off is a long time for any fighter. will be vitors longest to date, next to the 14 month he took off after the sakuraba fight which he came back to defeat gilbert yvel. and by the time they fight he wouldnt have been back to 185 in 2 years but i highly doubt he will have a problem with the weight cut. vitor is a bad match up for anderson imo. last truly aggressive fighter silva fought was leben and yea we know that whole story but vitor striking and flurrys are phenomenal. i still got vitor in this fight. gonna say 3rd round tko

[FE_EatsChildren]

i gotta say that this article isn't very good.

anyways, i got vitor winning this. i just wanna see how silva is gonna deal with vitor's power and speed. i mean shit if chael was able to drop silva, just imagine if vitor gets that one good shot in.