Two very cool articles about Randy Couture and Vitor Belfort respectively.
The Man to Beat
By Mick Hammond, MMA Weekly
Posted: January 23, 2004
As the MMA community prepares for UFC 46 on January 31st, the day prior to the Super Bowl, one man walks into the famed octagon for yet another battle, but this time he finds himself in an unfamiliar position, the favorite. It’s been a charmed year for Randy Couture; the man who once stood tall amongst the UFC’s heavyweight division as champion had seemingly dropped off the radar after a tough loss to Ricco Rodriguez at UFC 39. Battling injury and talk that perhaps “the grand old man of MMA” had finally grown too old for the “young man’s business of MMA,” Couture spent the majority of the first quarter of 2003 secluded from the MMA community.
As UFC 41 came to a close and yet another new UFC Heavyweight Champion was crowned, Couture, the man who had won the title an unprecedented two times, was signed for a match up at UFC 42 against Andre Arlovski. The fight was essentially created to further assess and move forward the development of the younger Arlovski as he was seemingly being poised for a title shot with Tim Sylvia. However, due to injury, Arlovski could not compete at UFC 42 and the match was scrubbed off the card. It seemed, as it had many times before, that the odds were again stacked against Couture as he was shelved as an afterthought.
Then came possibly the most influential series of events in the modern era of the UFC. UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz bowed out of his obligations to defend his title against long-standing number one contender Chuck Liddell, creating a serious problem for the UFC. In a scramble to save a possible PR nightmare, the UFC knew it had to get Liddell into the spotlight, just in case Ortiz bolted for good leaving a gaping hole in his division a la Murilo Bustamante and Jens Pulver. The only problem was the fact that, despite the 205 pound division being one of the deepest in the entire world of MMA, the UFC had no one under contract who had made a significant push over the past year to legitimately challenge Liddell for a version of the championship.
The question at hand became, “Why not take a previous champion, someone with credentials, under contract, and someone who Liddell had more than a legitimate shot at beating?” The answer, obviously, became Randy Couture.
Couture for many years had been competing against naturally larger opponents in the heavyweight division and, in his last two fights against Rodriguez and Josh Barnett, it had become clear that a move down in weight could be beneficial to prolong his career. Couture agreed to drop the weight and, with the help of an intense training and diet program, he managed to shave 20 pounds off of his 6’ 1” frame in time for his match with Liddell at UFC 43 for the “interim” UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
Again however, most people within the MMA community felt this fight was much like his fight against Arlovski was set up to be, Couture putting up a good fight against a younger and seemingly superior fighter but ultimately losing, thus pushing the younger fighter up the ladder. Couture refused to be a stepping stone, however, and dominated the fight both on the ground and in Liddell’s territory, the stand-up game. It seemed there was some fight left in the old man yet.
Realizing his mistake in not fighting Liddell, Ortiz came out of his contract dispute and signed to face Couture at UFC 44 to unify the Light Heavyweight Championship. It appeared that Couture’s rainbow had found its end, everyone was thinking despite his dominance over Liddell, there was no way the old man could do it again. Ortiz had been the most dominant champion in the UFC during his reign and despite the fact he hadn’t fought in a year, he was seen as a more complete package than the striking-based Liddell was. But again, Couture had his own opinion and enforced it over 5 rounds of pure dominance that found him winning every round on every judge’s scorecard.
It appeared the charmed life of the quiet man from Oregon was going to continue for a while longer, but what was next? Ironically, the answer to that question had come the same night Couture silenced critics and shocked the world by out-striking Liddell. That answer, a man Couture had defeated over six years prior, Vitor Belfort.
Even though he was a previous two-time Heavyweight Champion, it’s hard to imagine, but the man who had beaten arguably the two best American fighters at 205 pounds, is only now being given the respect he deserves. And so it appears, after all the years of hard work, unrelenting perseverance, and uncompromising sportsmanship, the man who essentially won the Light Heavyweight Championship twice in three months is now the “the man to beat.”
But to keep the belt, he may be facing his most daunting task ever, a revitalized and focused Vitor Belfort, who in his last fight reminded the world why he is considered one of the best at 205 as well. Regardless of the recent events surrounding the disappearance of Belfort’s sister Priscila, you can bet that Vitor will be physically ready and may use his family’s situation to further fuel his competitive fire.
Couture has faced these types of challenges before and has never ceased to amaze, inspire, and reign supreme in the end. If he is defeated, he will accept it, with all the grace, poise, and dignity he has always shown in the past. If he wins, there will be only one question left remaining, “Mrs. Silva, can Wanderlei come out and play?”
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The Curse of the Brazilian Phenom
By Mick Hammond, MMA Weekly
Posted: January 21, 2004
Living up to one’s potential, it’s something we’ve all heard from those around us, especially those in authoritative positions such as teachers and parents and bosses. Doing the most with our creator given talents and using them to achieve something more than just the average. This has long been the expectation placed on Vitor Belfort. Ever since his UFC debut in February of 1997 there has been a mass of people hoping to see “The Phenom” rise to his potential and become the dominant champion we all thought he would be.
It seemed a lock considering he dominated his first four fights, racking up victories over the likes of Tra Telligman and Tank Abbott. In those fights, he’d shown everyone his trademark incredible handspeed, either knocking out his opponents or getting TKOs via stoppages from strikes. What made things even more impressive was, at a time when most fighters were closer to their 30’s, Belfort was a relative child racking up victories in his late teens and very early 20’s.
Then things got strangely mired within streaks of inconsistencies, lack of determination, freak accidents, and other issues outside of the ring, compounding together to lead people to wonder if Belfort, aside from having massive pressure on his shoulders, has some sort of cosmic jinx on him as well?
The first signs of the combined pressure and unexplainable lapses in ability were shown at UFC 15, ironically, he ran into the man that he’ll be facing at the UFC 46 show on January 31st, Randy Couture. Eight minutes into the fight, a consistent rain of strikes from Couture stopped an out-hustled Belfort; Vitor experienced his first setback. After the fight, onlookers where left to wonder where the Belfort of earlier UFCs had gone? Was he starting to buckle under the weight of expectation?
The setback, seemingly, was only temporary as Belfort won his next two fights including a 44 second annihilation of Chute Boxe kingpin Wanderlei Silva at UFC’s Ultimate Brazil show, in what is the latter’s most devastating defeat to date. For the time being, critics were silenced and the Belfort-express seemed back on track. Things were once again looking bright for the young phenom. That, however, would be the last time Belfort would be seen in the octagon for nearly 4 years.
With an outstanding record of 6-1-0, Belfort was invited to the fifth installment of the Pride Fighting Championships. His opponent was a quirky former pro wrestler turned MMA fighter with a 3-0-1 record named Kazushi Sakuraba. At this time, Sakuraba was in his pre “Gracie Hunter” days and was seen as a huge underdog to Belfort. Unfortunately for Vitor, he would taste defeat as he was mostly dominated. Sakuraba managed to keep Belfort at bay and on his back most of the time and almost made Vitor the victim of the now famous “Sakuraba Face Stomp.” After two 10-minute rounds, a judges’ decision was rendered against Vitor, yet another setback. Again questions arose, similar to those after his fight with Couture; for seemingly without explanation, Vitor slipped back into a temporary mire for the second time in four fights.
The ever-resilient Belfort would bounce back though, winning his next 4 fights for Pride over a 2 year span. However, he hardly seemed the dominant force he had been in his earlier days in the UFC. Mostly relying upon surprisingly slower hand speed and his experience in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to keep fighters at bay, Vitor managed to pull off 3 decision victories, but only 1 in-ring finish (a submission win over Bobby Southworth at Pride 13). Rumors abounded within the MMA community wondering if Belfort was taking his fighting seriously anymore or if he was simply going through the paces. Expectations shifted from him living up to his potential to him just living up to his previous work. Then came the call from the UFC.
Impressed with his success in Pride, his former employer decided it was time for “The Phenom” to return to action in the octagon. This time to face Light Heavyweight Champion and UFC poster boy Tito Ortiz at UFC 33. It finally seemed as if Vitor would get his long overdue shot at a championship belt, that’s when fate intervened. A freak accident in training forced Belfort to drop out of the fight. Belfort suffered a severe cut to his arm during training. During a sparring session, he somehow managed to slam up against a window, shattered the glass, and cut his arm. It was another setback as he ended up as a spectator watching Tito go on to defeat Vitor’s replacement, Vladimir Matyushenko, via unanimous decision.
It would be nine months before we would see Vitor return to action. In what was a first for the UFC, the company decided to hold a special non-PPV show at the Bellagio in Las Vegas in June of 2002. The main event, a number one contenders match between Vitor and “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell, with the winner being granted a shot at Tito Ortiz’s title. Finally, after months of waiting and rehabbing, it seemed as if Vitor would be given his chance to shine, all he had to do was defeat Liddell, but again, as fate would have it, Vitor’s road to gold took yet another detour.
In a fight highlighted by a lot of action, Vitor looked solid, but still not quite the Vitor of old. When he gained an early advantage by taking Liddell down, he was not able to capitalize on it. After standing the majority of the remainder of the fight, Belfort was dropped late in the third round by a hard right hand and finished on his back defending a flurry of Liddell punches. Draped in the Brazilian flag and looking the worse of the two, Vitor hung his head in disappointment as the judges’ decision was unanimous in the favor of Liddell, handing Vitor only the 3rd loss of his career.
After injuring himself in training again, Vitor would spend the majority of the next year away from the sport. Rumors of a possible retirement loomed as Vitor concentrated on other enterprises including a reality TV show with his wife. Things were looking as if the man who had once showed the potential of being the world’s best 205 pound fighter would end his career never living up to the massive expectations on his shoulders.
Then fate intervened once again, contract issues lead to Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell’s highly anticipated fight not happening. In a scramble to fill a championship void, the UFC signed Liddell, the man who last defeated Belfort, to fight Randy Couture, the man who had handed Vitor his first loss. The doorway to possibility opened once again to Vitor.
Feeling energized by his time off, a refocused and rededicated Belfort was signed on the undercard of UFC 43 to face King of the Cage veteran Marvin “The Beastman” Eastman, but questions still loomed heavy over Vitor. Would the Vitor of old show up, that once dominating and seemingly unstoppable force, or would the Vitor of recent show up, a fighter who seemed to have lost a step and seemed quite human?
Vitor himself answered those questions with a 67 second TKO destruction of Eastman that resulted in one of the worst cuts in UFC history. Right from the opening bell, Vitor was all over Marvin, landing punches almost at will and, after a wicked knee, Eastman went down and Vitor pounced. In what can only be described as a display of blinding speed, Vitor managed to land multiple punches to the downed Eastman in just a matter of seconds, causing the ref to stop the fight.
After the fight, a nearly teary-eyed Belfort proclaimed that the Vitor of old had returned and he was officially back. Also, during the post-fight happenings, one couldn’t help but notice UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta personally congratulating Vitor, shaking his hand and whispering something in his ear. It became quite clear in that moment that Vitor would be groomed for another title shot.
Fast forward to the present. Randy Couture managed to defy the odds, defeating both Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz to lay claim to the undisputed UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. In a match surprisingly announced at Pride’s Final Conflict show this past November, Randy Couture stated he would be defending his title against none other than Vitor Belfort at UFC 46.
But yet again, the strange aura surrounding Belfort’s career reared it’s ugly head as on January 9th, after being dropped off by her mother at work, Belfort’s sister Priscila went missing and has yet to be found. Instantly, thoughts went throughout the MMA community of “what could be next?” Why had a fighter who had seemingly had everything he needed for success in the ring been so cursed by fate to never have the right frame of mind when the pressure was on him to perform? With perhaps the gigantic pressure pushing down on him, Vitor decided rather than to put off his match-up with Couture, he would forge ahead through the shadows of doubt surrounding his sister and fight.
So the stage is set, going into UFC 46 there are as many questions as there are answers at this point. Can Vitor beat the man who defeated him over six years ago? Now at 26 is Vitor a better fighter than he was at 20? Is he truly back or will he go back into another lull that could see him lose possibly his last chance to achieve greatness? Is Vitor’s mind going to be set on the task at hand or will the looming cloud of his sister’s disappearance understandably distract him? Only Vitor himself will be able to answer these riddles and see if he can truly reach the pinnacle of the 205 pound weight class.
To do it, he’s going to have to fight the most complete fighter he’s ever faced, as well as battle his own personal demons in the process, this is truly his toughest challenge to date. If he succeeds, he’ll finally have realized his full potential and perhaps silenced his critics and put a fix on the jinx that continues to follow him around. If he fails, he may never get this shot again and we will be left wondering just who is Vitor Belfort? The man with skills unequaled who could not pull it together when the pressure was on or a fighter who, despite his best efforts, has something unearthly going against him in his struggle to succeed? Only one thing is for certain, this is Vitor Belfort’s time, for good or bad, his time is now.
