The Case for Vitor Belfort Returning to the UFC

by Kid Nate on Jun 24, 2009 11:15 AM EDT in News Comment 21 comments

Vitor_belfort-tyson_medium Mike Chiappetta makes it:

FanHouse has confirmed through a source that White recently met with Belfort in Los Angeles. The source could not confirm that Belfort has signed any sort of deal with UFC, but we can also examine Belfort's recent behavior for telltale clues.

...

So to sum up, we have:

Belfort stating an interest in re-joining the UFC dating back to Dec. 2007

White and Belfort meeting in L.A.

Belfort turning down an oversized opponent for a lower-risk, lower-reward match

White fantasy booking a fighter whom he does not have under contract

Chiappetta's whole piece is worth a read. But he's missing one key element to his case -- Vitor being photographed with Mike Tyson in 2007 -- ok, ok, that's not really relevant, but I couldn't find a photo of Vitor with Dana, so I picked the next best thing.

Seriously though, all of Chiappetta's evidence and Dana's whole scheme for an Anderson Silva-Vitor Belfort title fight has one great big glaring flaw: Jorge Santiago and the high likelihood that Santiago beats Belfort at Affliction: Trilogy.

Its much like the month spent hyping Wanderlei Silva vs Anderson Silva only to throw Wanderlei in front of a passing train named Rich Franklin.

As long as your fantasy title matches hinge on the outcomes of real fights, they might not happen.

UPDATE:

From Fightline:

"[White] did say something [about Belfort]," Atencio told us about White’s recruiting tactics. "I’m talking to [Belfort’s] management, so we’re in negotiations. Where Dana came up with that, I don’t know. Maybe he’s just trying to stir the pot. That’s what he does and he does it well."

Although Atencio was gracious as always throughout the interview, you did get a sense that he may have been a tad irked by the fact that White was trying to dip into Affliction’s talent pool.

"Maybe he wants to get hit with a tampering charge," Atencio jokingly told us about what he thought White’s motives were. "I just don’t know, I can’t speak for Dana. I’m sure he just wants to stir the pot, like I said."

Thanks weoweoweo!

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Comments

Vitor looks like Frank Mir.

Keep firing Assholes!

Out out, you demons of stupidity!

by Ubernoober on Jun 24, 2009 11:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Dana

must already have a deal in writing with Vitor. With the Cro Cop mess only weeks ago, Dana wouldn’t go out on a limb to promote someone he isn’t 100% sure is coming to the UFC.

Dana may be a lot of things but stupid isn’t one of them. Why go public and cheer for a Vitor/Spider fight that he couldn’t deliver? It gives Vitor publicity and leverage in negotiations.

I for one am excited to see Vitor back. Don’t see him as a threat but I like the guy.

by Riney on Jun 24, 2009 11:19 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I believe Affliction

has a contract in effect with Vitor that has a 90 day first refusal option. That means the UFC can’t really even sign Vitor until 90days after this next Affliction fight, unless they’re willing to bet that Affliction won’t outbid them for Vitor. Maybe they’ve worked a deal with Affliction.

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by Kid Nate on Jun 24, 2009 11:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Perhaps they think Affliction is in no financial shape to get in a bidding war.

Or the UFC might use that to push them over the edge.

by Razreshat on Jun 24, 2009 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The real losers in the Cro Cop situation...

was anyone hoping for a one fight deal for Fedor to fight in the UFC.

Never going to happen now. Exactly what Dana said was the problem with that situation (minus having titles involved) is what happened with Cro Cop.

So the next time anyone complains about Dana not giving Fedor a one fight deal, remind them about how Cro Cop poked their dream in the eye.

by Razreshat on Jun 24, 2009 11:39 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Santiago

Santiago is a pretty good sized dog in this fight. I hope Vitor pulls it out and be an immediate force in UFC.

by MMAMoneyLine on Jun 24, 2009 11:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The only honorable way to solve this is for Dana and Tom to fight for his contract. Winner gets Vitor and a complimentary T-Shirt.

Food goes in here

by Pandanus on Jun 24, 2009 11:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Do you want to be a fuckin’…uh…promoter?

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett

by themachiavellian on Jun 24, 2009 12:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I see where Dana is going with this. He was upset about the Silva vs. Leites debacle (and Cote). Never again will he match Silva up with good grapplers. That sucks, oh well. Vitor is a good striker and should be able to put up a good show. He devastatingly ko’ed Lindland, maybe that is why Dana loves him so much.

by Bandaka on Jun 24, 2009 11:50 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I doubt that was the lesson learned by Dana and Co.

Or more likely, they need to put Anderson in there with agressive and confident fighters. Not fighters that are going to butt scoot for half the fight or consider it a great success to survive to round 3.

by Razreshat on Jun 24, 2009 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cote isn’t a grappler. He is a striker.

by Swordslasher on Jun 24, 2009 6:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Tom Atencio on Dana Wanting to Sign Vitor Belfort:

"[White] did say something [about Belfort]," Atencio told us about White’s recruiting tactics. "I’m talking to [Belfort’s] management, so we’re in negotiations. Where Dana came up with that, I don’t know. Maybe he’s just trying to stir the pot. That’s what he does and he does it well."

Although Atencio was gracious as always throughout the interview, you did get a sense that he may have been a tad irked by the fact that White was trying to dip into Affliction’s talent pool.

"Maybe he wants to get hit with a tampering charge," Atencio jokingly told us about what he thought White’s motives were. "I just don’t know, I can’t speak for Dana. I’m sure he just wants to stir the pot, like I said."

weoweoweo .deviantart .com

by Anton Tabuena on Jun 24, 2009 1:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

no prob. :)

weoweoweo .deviantart .com

by Anton Tabuena on Jun 24, 2009 1:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Dana’s actually pretty religious about not fucking with people under contract.

by subo on Jun 24, 2009 2:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

but he was fucking with Atencio.. not vitor..

weoweoweo .deviantart .com

by Anton Tabuena on Jun 24, 2009 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

All he said was that he wants to sign Vitor, he didn’t say he’s actually done any formal negotiations.

by Zack Gobie on Jun 24, 2009 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

he wouldn’t of gone on TV with it unless he was legally clear in his actions. He seems to be a real stickler for contracts and formal negotiations.

Wonder if this was the meeting in LA that he said he and Lorenzo had a couple of weeks ago in one of his blogs?

by who me on Jun 24, 2009 4:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

this is different than wanderlei. Wanderlei, while not at Chuck’s decline, is still on the down side of his career and has been losing most of his fights. He was also the underdog against Franklin. Vitor has everyone hopeful (well not everyone, well maybe just me) because of how he has looked in the past. Not just the Lindland fight and another win against a quality opponent would have him on a 5 fight win streak. That streak would include two solid wins and a win over Terry Martin (not solid). I guess what I am saying I would more excited for Vitor because he could challenge (not win) Anderson when people were excited for Wanderlei because of bad blood, not because he could still compete with Anderson.

by Zach Krantz on Jun 24, 2009 5:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Anyone else

enjoy the Lindland KO as much as I did? Maybe I enjoyed it too much. I had watched the interview with his family and how the UFC was afraid of him. That he would destroy their poster boy yadda yadda yadaa.

by Riney on Jun 24, 2009 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I really enjoyed it in large part because it finally put to rest the utterly ridiculous notion that Lindland was in any way deserving of being ranked in the top 10 at Middleweight.

...Behold, a pale horse. The man that sat upon it was Wieters, and hell followed with him.

"BJ on the BE" - Kierkegaard

by Brett Jones on Jun 24, 2009 5:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs