I'm sure this has been talked about many times BUT
I'm considering Belfort the Tyson of the mma world.
Loaded with potential, peaked very young, & their prime
ended in their early 20's. I swear when I saw Belfort
fight on ppv for the first time in UFC12 I was like
blown away. I don't think I've ever seen anyone in
mma with the natural ability & potential this kid. He
ends up losing to guys he shouldn't have lost to.
There been alot of great champions that has come
through the UFC but Vitor's debut was the best I've
seen & the only world to describe it is PHENOMENAL.
These days he's lacking heart & seems like he's only
in for the money. It's disturbing to see how a
fighter has come down so much. A complete 360 degree
turn-a-round.
First off, Tyson had a great career. Now maybe it could have been better. But he still had a great career. I like Belfort a lot, but Belfort hasn't yet done in MMA what Tyson did in boxing.
Secondly, Tyson's career was short-circuited by greedy managers and a strange "rape" trial that led to Tyson going to jail. Nothing like this has happened to Belfort. If anything, Belfort has gone in the opposite direction, getting married, finding God, etc.
Third, Vitor's career seems on the rebound more than anything else. He's had three fights since his comeback. He won one easily. The second one didn't tell us anything. The third one was a loss to one of the greatest fighters ever, when Belfort bled from an illegal headbutt. He is now booked to fight Tito in February. He will headline that show. Where do you get that he is screwing up?
Fourth, Vitor has seemed very emotional at every one of his recent fights. He did not seem like he was "only in it for the money" at any of them.
I can't wait to see Vitor fight again. He has improved a lot. He's fighting better quality fighters than Scott Ferrozzo, Jon Hess, and Tank Abbott these days, so every fight is not going to be a two minute blaze of glory. But Vitor is still one of the world's top light heavyweights.
I heard that Vitor's sister was kidnapped like almost a yr ago and it doesn't look like she will be found alive. Can someone confirm this? If so, that will definitely mess your head up.
But that only explains the last yr or so. I agree that he peaked very early like Robbie Lawler. He is making sort of a comeback but I am not expecting him to be as great as he was.
Vitor is far, far from a waste of talent. The guy is a warrior and will give anyone a tough night. I wish him luck against Ortiz, I think the phenom will come through.
There have been so many guys with scary first fights like Vitor's...we've all just become so jaded.
Hell, weren't Cooper's first few fights in Superbrawl similarly "holy shit" ish? (If not him, it was a guy from Jesus is Lord...I think Trigg beat him.)
Vitor is a fantastic fighter. So he lost to Randy, so have most. In fact, Randy and Wand are generally considered the two best LHW in the world. Vitor may not be #1 but he still is a world class MMA fighter.
Its like saying there is 3 great NFL players in the world and the rest are a waste. Get some perspective.
He has:
- world class grappling skills
- competitive Muay Thai skills
combined with:
- a backwoods work ethic
- a lackadaisical attidue toward the sport in general
At least Belfort had his heyday. Dennis beat someone (twice) that went on to greatness while never really getting 15 minutes of his own.
I'm hoping that 2005 brings us more of the REAL Superman. The one that smoked Hughes twice in a total of 37 seconds...instead of the one that lost a decision to Fickett and got pounded out by Trigg.
Belfort has had a fine career and he is still young. I really don't at all understand where all this bashing shit comes from. How he is a waste of talent is something I do not understand.
Bryster. I couldn't agree with more! You hit every-
thing right on the MONEY. I was a junior back in
high school & all of my homeboys used to come by the
crib & we would order these ufc shows. We were all
calling Bruce Lee the 'modern-day' Bruce Lee & were
matching him up against the likes of Mark Coleman &
Don Frye.
Like you, we were ALL buggin out the way he ran through
Tank. I mean, they were also high on Tank at the time
because of his performance at the Ultimate Ultimate 96.
What impressed me the most was that during the first
few secs of the bout Vitor actually tossed Tank
across the octagon like he weighed 135lbs. What was
so funny we had this school bully that watched the
show at my house because he stayed a couple of houses
down from me. After he saw Vitor for the first time
he was like "Man Fuck That. That Would Be The First
Time Ya'll See Me Walk Away From A Fight."
Vitor was all steroid. I was working out at a local gym in Century City Cali when he was living in Beverly Hills with Carlson. He and another Carlson guy walked in. He strikes up a conversation with me cuz I'm wearing a Machado shirt and asks if he and his buddy can work in some bench press with me. He couldnt get two plates(225lbs) off the bench. He had to drop down to 135 lbs where he struggled to do 10 reps. When he was finished with his 3 sets, he said thank you and left the gym. Elapsed time: 15 minutes