UFC 103: Vitor Belfort Smashes Rich Franklin in Round One
by Luke Thomas on Sep 20, 2009 12:11 AM EDT
in MMA News
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Is the old Vitor back? No, the new Vitor is here.
After a feeling out period where Vitor held his stance as if he was Lyoto Machida, it turned out it was only a matter of time.
There wasn't much to the story except that the stories of Vitor's evolution are not overstated. While a left hand grazed the back of Franklin's head, his follow up was dogged enough to make it count with over committing.
Franklin crumbled face forward and could offer not resistance. Belfort followed up with punches on a Franklin on all fours before the referee was forced to stop the fight.
And now Anderson Silva has a contender. While this fight was at 195, the wins Vitor has put together cannot be contested. Vitor has stopped three UFC caliber opposition in a row and done so by finishing them all. While there is still a question of how he'll do against someone the caliber of the greatest pound for pound fighter on the planet, Belfort has clearly put himself in a position to be a viable opponent worthy of the Anderson Silva challenge.
Referee Yves Lavigne stops the fight at 3:02 of the very first round. Huge, huge win for "The Phenom".
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Was very quick
I thought Rich would win, but wow…. Looks like Henderson has someone else to worry about.
I've got this Christian girlfriend now and she's trying to get me to be a better man and reconnect with my son and I'm trying to get her to renounce God and [bleep] me and I just want to prove to her that I'm worth it.
I say they make Silva fight Hendo, Vitor, and Marquardt at the same time
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
Silva -500, other guys +255
I've got this Christian girlfriend now and she's trying to get me to be a better man and reconnect with my son and I'm trying to get her to renounce God and [bleep] me and I just want to prove to her that I'm worth it.
Does the fight take place in Chicago?
I've got this Christian girlfriend now and she's trying to get me to be a better man and reconnect with my son and I'm trying to get her to renounce God and [bleep] me and I just want to prove to her that I'm worth it.
Did Rich get caught?
Or was he overwhelmed from the get-go (As of the time I’m writing this, none of the sites have any description of the fight)?
meh
I wouldn’t say that. Neither guy did much until that point, just some blah shots.
I've got this Christian girlfriend now and she's trying to get me to be a better man and reconnect with my son and I'm trying to get her to renounce God and [bleep] me and I just want to prove to her that I'm worth it.
So you’re saying that Vitor nailed rich with a Blah shot who went down in a blah manner and then got pounded on with a couple of more blah shots before the Ref stopped the Blah-ing fight and gave Vitor the victory for this Blah match.
Am I correct in assuming that’s what you’re saying, Mythbuster? ;)
Just saying… seemed like a lot of back of the head shots. Rich wasn’t downed by a clean shot, more a forearm to the head. Not sure if it was questionable enough, thought it was stopped a bit early.
Very impressive win for Vitor.
On a side note, I’d love to see fighter get booed for thanking Jesus. That would be priceless.
bah, jesus never gets booed in texas… maybe california or vegas.
by kanodogg on Sep 20, 2009 12:42 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
That...
is how the Wandy fight should have gone! Think about it, then we would have gotten to see a rematch between Vitor and Wandy!
Except that the whole rationale behind Marquardt/Henderson is establishing a clear #1 contender. Vitor is not a clear #1 contender over either of those guys on the basis of a fight at different weight.
but he would be coming down not up. A win at 195 against a good LHW is bigger than a win at 185. Plus its a fight the fans would rather see. Anderson would want it because its going to be exciting = $
I think it’s silly to say that fights in one weight class can somehow “count” in another weight class, but I’ll set that aside and ask:
How about a win at 205 against a big LHW? Y’know, like Dan Henderson over Rich Franklin? You want to talk about fan exposure—how about a whole season of TUF followed by a huge knockout at the most-watched event in UFC history? Again, Dan Henderson.
Makes no sense to slot Vitor ahead of Dan. And meanwhile, Marquardt has a better recent record in the actual middleweight division than either one of them.
I guess I’m not entirely convinced that Anderson would be any more inclined to take Vitor than he would Henderson. It probably wouldn’t be any more financially lucrative, and meanwhile he’s trawling for possible LHW and HW fights.
But yeah, I’m talking about what would be right, not necessarily what might actually happen.
Franklin is a 185lber… them fighting at 195 makes little difference.
Vitor just killed Lindland and Franklin.
Marquart and Henderson were already raped by Anderson. Vitor IS THE NUMBER ONE CONTENDER.
Yet Vitor was already beaten by Henderson not too long ago.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Sep 20, 2009 4:32 PM EDT up reply actions
“There wasn’t much to the story except that the stories of Vitor’s evolution are not overstated. While a left hand grazed the back of Franklin’s head, his follow up was dogged enough to make it count with over committing.
Franklin crumbled face forward and could offer not resistance. Belfort followed up with punches on a Franklin on all fours before the referee was forced to stop the fight."
Was this translated not from the Japanese?
Great performance by Vitor, he showed that he has PATIENCE. Him and Anderson would have a LONG feeling out process, but someone would go to sleep.
"You guys are jerking eachother off with some pseudo deep bullshit." - Kid Nate
by Kaleb Kelchner on Sep 20, 2009 12:36 AM EDT reply actions
vin
█♣█
A wise man told me don't argue with fools
Cause people from a distance can't tell who is who -- Jay-Z
by thetakeover on Sep 20, 2009 12:52 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Vitor vs. Hendo
A catchweight fight shouldn’t put you in line for a title shot.
█♣█
A wise man told me don't argue with fools
Cause people from a distance can't tell who is who -- Jay-Z
by thetakeover on Sep 20, 2009 12:55 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Yes it absolutely should in this instance. You beat a LHW contender, who was a former middleweight champ.
Maybe not in every instance, but in this instance. Yes.
I agree with takeover
Want a shot at Silva? Beat a big name or two at 185. Want a shot at Machida? Beat a big name or two at 205. Beat a big name from the 185 bracket at magical made-up weight of 195? Congrats. You get to fight the imaginary champion of 195, Tyler Durden.
BOOSH
If Hendo’s win over Rich didn’t mean anything at 185, then the only thing Hendo has going for him (to claim that he’s the #1 contender) is a knockout of the much hated/disrespected Bisbing.
by m-e-s-s-i-a-h on Sep 20, 2009 6:16 AM EDT up reply actions
I guess it was just me, but I wasn’t impressed with Vitor. He caught Franklin with a glancing blow to the top of the head that knocked him to his knees and followed it up by another blow to the back of his head that knocked him out. Never even saw him land a clean blow (and I did watch all the replays) I know stuff happens in fights, so I don’t care about that, but seeing him win like that didn’t blow me away.
Yeah me too sort of. Franklin seemed a bit lame. Maybe he’s getting tired of fighting or something. Dunno. He sort of barely got clipped and then collapsed all of a sudden, I didn’t really see anything land flush.
I still think that Vitor’s hands are amazing and he’s a top contender. Would love to see him up against Hendo, but not Nate, I wanna see Nate fight for the belt, and the winner of Vitor and Hendo fight for the belt.
Wrong
When your last 3 wins all look like this, it isn’t a fluke.
Well, the Lindland fight he landed flush shots. Straight left and several power shots to the kisser. The fight before that he finished it with flush shots to the head too. This one I didn’t see anything flush. It just sort of looked like something that a guy with the experience of Rich could’ve handled.
But I never said it was a fluke, and calling my statement wrong seems a little bit dingly. I’m just speaking about my impression of it. That’s not wrong it’s an opinion.
Yeah, probably should have replied to Jeremy, not you. My bad. Hopefully tomorrow there will be a good gif around because atm it does look like Franklin was dropped by a grazing blow. Still looked very similar to his previous wins.
He got clipped behind the ear and went down ala Randy against Brock. Then Vitor delivered a HUGE shot directly to the back of Rich’s head. That was it.
Other fighters have been sanctioned for a lot less.
by jebushchrist on Sep 20, 2009 1:18 AM EDT up reply actions
Heh, hitting the back of the head when it’s moving from side to side is rarely warned and never sanctioned. The actual area the C and NSAC regard as the “back of the head” is in fact quite narrow, most shots that are warned actually miss this spot.
Head wasn’t moving and it was a shot di-rectly to the occipital lobe. It was quite literally a bulls-eye to the no-no area.
by jebushchrist on Sep 20, 2009 1:27 AM EDT up reply actions
(Only Lesnar gets the fight stopped and stood up and docked a point for a blow to the back of the head, other fighters get a win)
But yea, it was straight to the no no area and his head wasn’t moving.
Vitor won, nobody is trying to take that away. But when you win like that, it’s not going to blow everybody away.
klown's MW Top 10
1. A.Silva
2. Belfort
3. Henderson
4. Franklin
5. Okami
6. Marquardt
7. Maia.
8. Musasi
9. Souza
10. J. Miller
You have failed.
Behold!
I specializes in grammar fail.
by a tommy point on Sep 20, 2009 1:11 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
That girl to his left is now pregnant.
BOOSH
by Farthammer on Sep 20, 2009 1:16 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
People seem to be on a Mayhem Love Fest recently. I don’t understand it, but there ya go.
I've got this Christian girlfriend now and she's trying to get me to be a better man and reconnect with my son and I'm trying to get her to renounce God and [bleep] me and I just want to prove to her that I'm worth it.
lol
in addition, any article with his name in it gets front paged here, so I think some loyal readers think he must be important or something.
Incredibly impressive showing by Vitor he’s officially back and a threat to anyone at MW. Dana needs to book Nate vs. Vitor for the number 1 contender spot now that Hendo has taken himself out of the picture. Whoever wins that fight would be without a question the no. #1 challenger for Anderson. Franklin needs to go back up to 205 and work on his defense a bit more but he’ll be fine and ready to go against any LHW contender maybe give him Jardine.
Yes, he’s in hiding, refusing to fight anyone unless it’s for the title.
I've got this Christian girlfriend now and she's trying to get me to be a better man and reconnect with my son and I'm trying to get her to renounce God and [bleep] me and I just want to prove to her that I'm worth it.
Hell yeah stoked! I knew Vitor was back, and back for good he will be. I honestly hope the UFC doesn’t put Anderson vs Vitor up right away and waste an opportunity to showcase exactly how good Vitor really is, and if he can rack up just one more impressive win; Because I think he most certainly could. For that fact I don’t think think any one of these guys on this list could beat down Vitor at this stage in his career. This is a list of tough opponents I really, really want to fight Belfort before a fight with Anderson: tim credeur, patrick cote, chris leben, yoshihiro akiyama, michael bisping, kendall grove, jorge rivera, aaron simpson, rousimar palhares, james irvin, alan belcher, dennis kang, dan henderson, nate marquardt, wilson gouveia, yushin okami, demian maia, tom lawlor, mark munoz, drew mcfedries, thales leites, cb dollaway, chael sonnen, nate quarry, goran reljic, matt horwich, alessio sakara. That is only a list of UFC fighters I would like to see Vitor fight. I think he could convincingly beat many other top ten fighters outside of the UFC in the MW division.
Vitor’s stance looked interesting, possibly affected by training with Machida?
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
I picked vitor to KO Rich in the first round, I also picked Wandy to do the same. I still think nate marquardt posses the biggest threat to Silva and I think he would beat Belfort. I also Think Henderson would beat Belfort. I think the fight that makes most sense is Belfort vs Maia. I wouldnt even mid seeing Cote vs Belfort. Im still not convinced that Belfort could beat the spider. Sure the fight looks exciting and would end in a KO.. But I dont think Belfort is the guy to beat the spider. I thought he looked not in the best shape, and I would be curious to see if he could get passed maia before he gets a title shot.
are you really curious to see if vitor can get passed maia…slow motion nate knocked his a$$ silly…vitor will have issues (like anyone at 185) with silva’s reach advantage but has a solid chin and dynamite hands….maybe silva is now thinking twice about ducking henderson
Im curious, because I know belfort can strike, but I think his ground is suspect, and I think maia getting kod like that was one of those anything can happen moments granted Im a huge nate fan, I just would like to see him beat someone with those kind of skills. I think we all knew vitor was a bad matchup for Franklin…
He’s got his black belt from Carlson Gracie, which means he’s a legit black belt. Also he defeated Ricco Rodriguez in ADCC.
by dancingChicken on Sep 20, 2009 6:18 AM EDT up reply actions
No one mentioned...
but one of the best things about Vitor Belfort being an actual contender is.. his name is so damn fun to say!
Veeeeeeeeeeeetor Beeeeeeeeeeeelfort!
I've got this Christian girlfriend now and she's trying to get me to be a better man and reconnect with my son and I'm trying to get her to renounce God and [bleep] me and I just want to prove to her that I'm worth it.
Vitor vs Anderson is happening...
Get used to it. It was very clear that’s what Dana was leaning towards after watching the post fight press conference.
I’m very worried about that being a boring fight.
Two counter punchers going at it? Yup, there is some concern there.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Sep 20, 2009 4:28 AM EDT up reply actions
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