Vitor Belfort returned to UFC in vintage Vitor-style. The Phenom knocked out former UFC champion Rich Franklin in Round 1 at UFC 103. Dana White wasted no time talking about a Belfort vs. Anderson Silva match after the fight. In the eyes of the UFC president, “Belfort is ready.”

The words and immediate hype should come as no surprise to UFC fans. Dana White has been talking about a Belfort vs. Silva fight even before he had Belfort under contract. A few months back White talked about testing Anderson Silva with Vitor Belfort. It looks like the test will come sooner than later for the UFC middleweight champion.

Belfort’s win was one of the most impressive wins of the year. I never though of Rich Franklin as an elite fighter, however he is no pushover. Belfort’s win was about more than just a speedy onslaught of strikes. Belfort was a posed, mature fighter who waited patiently for his opening. Once Belfort saw the open, he took it, and it was lights out for Franklin.

Rich Franklin has only been knocked out once in the first round in his MMA career. Ironically it was Anderson Silva who knocked Rich Franklin out with a knee in Round 1 to win his UFC middleweight title. Even more impressive is that this was Belfort’s second straight first round knockout. Belfort’s previous victim was Matt Lindland. Lindland is also no pushover and the wins are extremely impressive for Belfort.

The odd man out is Dan Henderson. Hendo was promised the next title shot at Anderson Silva. Silva has yet to agree to a match with Henderson. After seeing he wasn’t interested in fighting Henderson, Silva reportedly suffered an elbow injury. The timing of the injury is curious to say the least. Henderson would be a fool to agree to a Belfort fight before the Silva match. Henderson has already turned down opponents citing that he will wait out his promised match with Silva.

Vitor Belfort is for real and I am now a believer. Belfort can and will give Anderson Silva his toughest challenge to date in the UFC. Silva has never seen anyone with the speed of Belfort. Additionally, I don’t know if Silva has ever fought anyone with the confidence of Vitor Belfort. The looks on the faces of most of Anderson Silva’s opponents before the bell scream of defeat. Belfort won’t be scared and will probably be the first guy in UFC to fight Silva who believes that he can beat him.

For now, the sky is the limit for Belfort. Belfort could jump up to 205 and fight the Machida-Rua winner for the UFC light heavyweight title. Belfort had a hard time getting to 195 for the Franklin fight. Dropping down to 185 could be a big issue for Belfort. Fighting Silva at a catch weight is a solution, but that would negate UFC’s opportunity at a UFC middleweight title fight. The Anderson Silva talk is nice, but it may be in everyone’s best interest for Belfort to stick around at 195 or 205.

Vitor Belfort Highlights!


Thanks to MMAFanhouse for the tip!

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UFC 103 is headlined by the return of former UFC champion, Vitor Belfort. Belfort matches up against another former champ and The Ultimate Fighter coach, Rich Franklin. The future of the UFC middleweight division may be decided on Saturday night. A win by Belfort will no doubt put him at the head of the line for Anderson Silva.

Make no mistake about it, this fight is set up for Belfort to win. Franklin is someone Belfort should easily beat. As a former UFC middleweight champion, the win would give Belfort instant credibility with UFC fans. This is the ideal matchup for a returning hero in Belfort. The only question remains is whether Vitor Belfort UFC circa 1997 shows up or Vitor UFC circa 2005.

I have written before about my disbelief in Rich Franklin. I don’t think he is a top MMA fighter. I think the talent in the division has passed him by. I think that Franklin was king of the division at a time when the division was weak. Franklin gets the star treatment due to his appearances on The Ultimate Fighter. Franklin did beat Wanderlei Silva but he did nothing during that fight to convince me that he can beat a guy like Belfort.

Belfort loves to attack fast. Belfort is a striker with 12 knockouts. I can’t remember the last time I ever saw Rich Franklin win a slugfest. Franklin played a tremendous counter-strike game against Silva at UFC 99. Belfort is faster than Silva and will attack. Franklin’s only chance is to take Belfort to the ground and tire him out. Belfort is vulnerable on the ground and Franklin could pull off the upset if that is his game plan.

The stakes are huge for UFC. Dana White signed Vitor Belfort back with intentions of booking a UFC middleweight title fight against Anderson Silva. This fight at UFC 103 will be at a catch weight of 195. Not only will Belfort lose a ton of appeal with a loss Saturday, but White will be forced to make a match nobody wants to see. White would have to make Franklin-Anderson Silva III. By all rights, Franklin deserves it with a win but I can tell you that I have zero interest in seeing that fight.

My prediction is a win for Vitor Belfort. Belfort’s last win was an explosive knockout over Matt Lindland in January. Matt Lindland is no joke and at one time was a number one ranked fighter in some circles. Belfort has looked reborn in his last four fights and hasn’t lost since 2006. I predict a Belfort win, TKO, one round and Franklin goes down.

Interestingly enough, Vegas currently has Franklin as the favorite. Bodog.com has Franklin at -145 while BetUs.com has Franklin at -140. I am not a betting man but if I was, I’d run to grab those lines. This is definitely a fight I don’t see Vegas getting right.

Frank Trigg returns to the UFC after a very lengthy absence. Trigg returns to face The Ultimate Fighter alumni Josh Koscheck. At 37, I don’t think Trigg is going to be able to hang with Koscheck. Trigg was tapping back in 2005 when he was 33 years old. I just think Koshcheck is too quick for Trigg. Koshcheck is a huge favorite at -500 at Bodog.com and -400 at BetUs.com. Trigg is a +300 at both places. At +300, Trigg may not be a bad bet for an upset. Rarely do all favorites win on UFC events.

Mirko Cro Cop returns to heavyweight in UFC. Even after all of the swearing by Dana White, UFC took back Cro Cop. Cro Cop’s prime is well behind him. Cro Cop would have arguably lost his last fight if it wasn’t for a poke. Junior dos Santos is no joke and is undoubtedly matched to win this one. Crop Cop is an underdog at +105 on both books. Cro Cop hasn’t shown me anything in years. Santos knocked out Fabrico Werdum last year and will likely do the same to Cro Cop. Keep your eyes out on Santos over the next few months. He could be your next UFC heavyweight champion.

The entire scheduled UFC 103 fight card is…
Vitor Belfort vs. Rich Franklin
Junior Dos Santos vs. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic
Martin Kampmann vs. Paul Daley
Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg
Hermes Franca vs. Tyson Griffin
Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller
Jim Miller vs. Steve Lopez
Rafaello Oliveira Vs. Nik Lentz
Rick Story vs. Brian Foster
Tomasz Drwal vs. Drew McFedries
Jason Brilz vs. Eliot Marshall
Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Igor Pokrajac
Rafael dos Anjos vs. Rob Emerson

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Check out this clip of UFC star Tito Ortiz interviewing fellow UFC star Vitor Belfort. Tito and Vitor talk about the upcoming Belfort vs. Rich Franklin UFC 103 match. Ortiz really does treat this as an interview and asks great questions. It is easy for Ortiz to be humble when he’s interviewing someone he has beaten. I wonder if he would have been so gracious with Chuck Liddell or Randy Couture.

A really cool moment is when Ortiz and Belfort reminisce about their fight at UFC 51 Super Saturday. It seemed like a genuine moment of respect between two future UFC Hall of Fame fighters.

The clip comes courtesy of MMA Connected on Sportsnet.

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It is being reported that UFC had the opportunity to pick up Fedor Emelianenko from the Affliction acquisition. Both sides have confirmed that negotiations are underway to make a deal happen. It is also reported that Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brock Lesnar could happen as soon as UFC 103 in September.

It is hard for Dana White to boast about having the greatest fighters in UFC, when they are missing arguably the greatest heavyweight of all-time. It is hard to boast that you are the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, when you aren’t fighting the elite. The time is now for UFC and Fedor Emelianenko to get a deal done!

UFC has done a great job of giving us Pride vs. UFC Dream Matches since they acquired Pride FC. Unfortunately they have been unable to close the deal on the biggest star of the company. UFC fans have been awaiting the arrival of the Last Emperor for two-years.

It seemed a given at the time that Fedor would make the jump to UFC. For one, UFC desperately needed heavyweights. Additionally, the MMA business in Japan started a free fall. With no quality opponents available, it seemed like a matter of when and not if for Fedor to sign with UFC.

Two years later and both sides have yet to come to an agreement. However, there is never been a better time for the deal to happen then now. All of the planets seemed to have aligned to necessitate this deal from both sides. The timing may never be better for either side to get the deal done.

Whether UFC fans like him or not, they can thank Brock Lesnar for the sense of urgency. Let’s face it. Fedor in UFC would always have big impact. However, up until Lesnar there hasn’t been that Super Fight that necessitated a deal. Lesnar’s dominance over arguably his only heavyweight competition in UFC at UFC 100 has put an enormous amount of pressure on Dana White.

Dana White has been more complimentary to Fedor than at any other time that I can remember. Dana has acknowledged that the pressure from fans and the MMA community has opened up a whole new dynamic to his pursuit of Fedor. Dana may be an arrogant man, but he is a smart man. Dana knows that there is no other money match that can come close to a Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brock Lesnar main-event.

Dana White also comes from a boxing background. As a student of the game, he has to be aware of missed opportunities in boxing. Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield eventually fought Mike Tyson. But those matches came way past their prime and millions of dollars were lost on those Dream Fights. Dana White knows that a waiting game here will only lose the company millions of dollars that he may never get back.

I have been extremely critical of Dana White in the past for not getting this done. However, I have come around the last year to Fedor’s culpability in this. This isn’t a one man deal. Reports indicate that Fedor’s management asked for outrageous things from UFC in the past. As an elite athlete, there comes a point where Fedor has to bite the bullet on some of these conditions in exchange for getting the best competition in MMA.

Randy Couture said last week that he was promised Fedor first. Dana White said later in the week that Fedor will fight for the title first. Personally, I think Dana learned his lesson from Mirko Cro Cop. Dana played the game with Cro Cop and put him in tune up fights first, rather than promote the immediate money match with Randy Couture. UFC lost millions of dollars due to this and I can’t see them making the same mistake again.

I found it interesting that MMA fans and reporters immediately jumped on the Lesnar-Fedor match following UFC 100. At that time, Fedor was still under contract to Affliction. Betting websites even posted odds on a Fedor vs. Lesnar match. The planets aligned Friday when Affliction closed down, patched things up with UFC, and Fedor became a free agent.

The sticking point in the past has been Fedor’s management team. Fedor’s team wants the fight co-promoted by M1. UFC has never co-promoted in the past and weren’t looking to start. The more I learned about Fedor, the more I learned that Dana White was not nearly all at fault for not getting the deal done.

Once again, timing is everything and it appears both sides are negotiating with cleared heads. Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports reports that Dana White did fly out of the country in the last few days for a meeting. Iole also reports that a co-promotional deal could be a possibility at this time. Iole is careful to note that this is all dependent upon what kind of co-promotional deal is expected. These kinds of things happen often in boxing, and there is no reason that someone reasonable can’t be worked out from both sides.

Kevin Iole also said something very interesting on MMA Junkie Radio. Iole said he couldn’t confirm, but heard that UFC had the opportunity to pick up Fedor’s current deal from Affliction. According to Iole, UFC did not like the deal and it was very one-sided in Fedor’s favor. Iole also reported that Fedor’s first match could happen as soon as UFC 103 in September vs. Brock Lesnar. Iole also reports that Tito Ortiz could return on that card.

So who has leverage in this deal? Fedor is the commodity, but UFC is also a commodity to Fedor. Does Fedor want his legacy to be that of a fighter that jumped around fly-by-night companies fighting less talented fighters? Does UFC want their legacy to include the fact that the biggest company in MMA history couldn’t sign arguably the greatest heavyweight of all-time?

I think both sides are at a point where this deal needs to happen for it to ever happen. Hypothetically, should Brock Lesnar hit a wall this deal doesn’t mean a whole lot in two years for either side. The timing is now for both sides to make this happen. In order to get, you need to give and both sides need to give a little to get a lot for MMA fans.

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