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Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort (born 4th April, 1977) is a young UFC competitor from Brazil. At a young age, Vitor had been interested in fighting, and so began to train Brazilian jujutsu (BJJ) with the Gracie family, namely by Carlson Gracie. He quickly received a black belt under Carlson.
- At the age of 19 years old, Vitor came to the US to compete. In his first sactioned Mixed Martial Arts match in an Event called Superbrawl in Hawaii, his opponent was John Hess, whom the young Brazilian defeated in 20 seconds.
- Soon after, he moved on to compete in the UFC. Carlson Gracie told the UFC about and earned the nickname The Phenom. He beat two fighters in his debut in the UFC then soundly TKO-ed Tank Abbott in a non-tournament fight in the UFC, knocking Tank down and using brutally effective Ground and Pound tactics.
- In 1997 he fought against an American Greco-Roman Wrestler named Randy Couture in a title match. Belfort found himself outclassed, his punching skills negated and was soundly defeated, TKO-ed 8:16 into the match.
- After his sound defeat, he fought twice more in the UFC. His first fight was against Joe Charles and defeated him quickly with an Arm Lock. However, this fight was a bit controversial since his opponent was one of his training partners and there were accusations that the fight was a work.
- A year later, he faced rising Brazilian star Wanderlei Silva in the UFC. Catching Silva early with a jab, he chased him across the ring with punches and pinned Silva against the fence, TKO-ing the Brazilian in less than a minute. Many at the time believed that this fight would be a return to form for Vitor, but soon it turned out to be anything but that.
- Vitor then moved on to fight in Pride Fighting Championship. His first opponent was Kazushi Sakuraba (the former middleweight champion) in 1999. Vitor controlled the first minutes of the fight, but then Sakuraba turned the tide of the fight, beating Vitor in an embarrassing fashion, kicking his legs and stomping on Vitor's face with flying stomps. A badly beaten Vitor lost by decision. After this fight, many said that Vitor never quite showed up in his true form anymore. He won, but not like before.
- He fought four more times in Pride against Gilbert Yvel, Daijiro Matsui, Bobby Southworth and Heath Herring. However, the fights were nothing like his high intensity fights of his early UFC appearances. Vitor in those fighter never showed his punching skills and instead controlled the fight and won by what many were calling a very low intensity Ground and Pound attack. Additionally, in the eyes of many fans and experts the decision against Heath Herring was a very controversial one.
- His most important fight of recent was against Chuck Liddell in June 2002. It was hoped that Vitor would do well in this fight. The fight was relatively close, but Vitor's confidence and endurance seemed to fade and was knocked down hard at the end of the fight and pounded on the ground until the end of the round. The fight ended with decision in favour of Chuck Liddell.
- His next major fight was on February 2nd 2004 against Randy Couture (a rematch, after Vitor lost the first). Vitor won the fight in 49 seconds when a seam from his glove cut Couture's eyelid, prompting a referee stoppage. As many fans considered the result a fluke, a rematch was scheduled for August 21st 2004. Vitor was defeated in the 3rd round by TKO. Belfort claimed that it was an illegal headbutt that caused the fight to end, but replays were relatively inconclusive and the title was returned to Randy Couture. Randy and Vitor are good friends and are respectful of each other.
Vitor is currently married to a Brazilian Model named Joana Prado. It is obvious that Vitor's fighting career - and life in general - has been marked by the loss of his sister who is still missing. Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort is still young and could still return to fighting.
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