As ferocious and exciting a striker as anyone who has ever entered the Octagon, former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort will be immortalized this summer with a spot in the UFC Hall of Fame.
Belfort (26-14, 1 NC), was emotional while sitting cageside on Saturday at UFC 315 in Montreal when his HOF announcement took place during the pay-per-view. The 48-year-old native of Brazil will enter as the 20th member of the UFC HOF’s Pioneer Era Wing, which includes fighters who turned pro before Nov. 17, 2000 (when the unified rules of MMA were adopted).
Nicknamed “The Phenom,” Belfort made his promotional debut at UFC 12 at the age of 19 when he won a one-night heavyweight tournament and will now gain induction to the HOF on Thursday, June 26, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, during the promotion’s annual International Fight Week.
“Vitor Belfort was 19 years when he was signed by UFC and he quickly made an impact by becoming the youngest athlete to win a UFC fight, and UFC tournament,” UFC president and CEO Dana White said. “Vitor was a pioneer of the sport and is definitely a UFC legend. It will be an honor to induct him into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer.”
Belfort fought 41 times over a 22-year career, with none bigger than a 2004 first-round TKO over Randy Couture at UFC 46 to win the 205-pound title. He scored 26 victories in all, including wins over the likes of Wanderlei Silva, Rich Franklin, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold and Dan Henderson (twice).
A southpaw with heavy hands and explosive punching power, Belfort was the UFC’s version of Mike Tyson in his early years, which was best evidenced by a memorable 44-second knockout of Silva at UFC Brazil in 1998.
Belfort would go on to fight under the PRIDE, Strikeforce and Affliction banners between multiple UFC runs. He returned to the UFC for good in 2009, where he would fight an additional 15 times until his retirement in 2018.
Although he would never go on to win UFC gold again after his short title reign at light heavyweight, Belfort would challenge for UFC titles three more times over two divisions. His most memorable stretch was undoubtedly a three-fight win streak in 2013 when Belfort scored consecutive highlight-reel knockouts of Bisping, Rockhold and Henderson.
Belfort still holds UFC records for first-round finishes (13), knockouts in 90 seconds or less (10) and first-round finishes (18 of his 26 wins).
A native of Rio de Janeiro, Belfort began training boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu at age 12 before gaining his black belt in BJJ at age 28 under Carlson Gracie.
This news was originally published on this post .
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