Vitor Belfort is a Brazilian-American professional mixed martial artist as well as a boxer who currently competes in the Heavyweight and Middleweight divisions. He is currently signed for the Singapore-based promotion ONE Championship. He has participated in numerous promotions including the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Pride FC, Strikeforce, Affliction, and Cage Rage. He is the UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament champion, a former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, and the Cage Rage World Light Heavyweight champion. His autobiography “Vitor Belfort: Lições de garra, fé e sucesso” was published by Thomas Nelson Brazil in 2012. He appears in the video for the song “I’m Down” by The Almost. He is nicknamed “The Phenom”. His rank is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Carlson Gracie, a Black belt in Judo, and a Purple belt in Shotokan Karate. His stance is Southpaw.
Vitor Belfort stops Evander Holyfield in Round 1
Evander Holyfield was stopped on his feet by former UFC champion Vitor Belfort just 1:49 into the opening round on Saturday at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Belfort, 44, swarmed Holyfield from the opening bell and never let up in the Triller Fight Club main event as former President Donald Trump watched on from the commentary booth. The former heavyweight champion, one of boxing’s all-time greats, showed no resistance at all in his first fight since 2011. A flurry of punches sent Holyfield to the canvas, and after he beat the count, Belfort let his hands go until the ref wisely stopped the fight, saving Holyfield from further punishment. Belfort, who was boxing for just the second time after an illustrious MMA career, took the opportunity to set up what he hopes is his next fight. “Hey Jake Paul, stop running from me,” Belfort said. “You can be my son. I’m going to put you in my lap. You’re going to sleep like a baby.”
What is Vitor Belfort Known For?
- Being a professional mixed martial artist and boxer.
- Being the UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament champion, a former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, and the Cage Rage World Light Heavyweight champion.
Source: @graciemag
Where is Vitor Belfort from?
Vitor Belfort was born with the real name of Vitor Vieira Belfort on 1st April 1977. His place of birth is in Rio de Janeiro, the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His present age is 44 as of 2021. He holds Dual nationality of American and Brazilian. On April 26, 2018, he became a naturalized American citizen. His ethnicity is multiracial of Latino, White, and Black as he is of Brazilian, Italian, German, Portuguese, Spanish, African, and distant Irish descent. About his parents, he was born to his father, José Marcos de Lima Belfort, and his mother, Maria Jovita Nocchi Vieira. He also has a sibling, a sister named Priscila Belfort. Aries is his horoscope sign and he follows the Christianity religion. He believes the most important key to his success and longevity in the sport is that he is happy with what he does. “I just thank God every day. I’m happy. I’m healthy. Bottom line is it’s just the way you treat life and life will treat you back. Make sure you’re happy with whatever is going on in your life. I think the key of life is just to be happy with what’s in front of you and the decision of my life is under God and God knows what’s best for me.” He also appeared in a testimonial video on I Am Second, in which he shares the story of his faith in Jesus Christ.
On 9th January 2004, Belfort’s sister, Priscila, disappeared and the relatives received no information about her. In August 2007, a woman identified as Elaine Paiva confessed that she participated in her kidnapping and killing and that she was kidnapped to pay off a four thousand dollar debt Paiva had with drug dealers. Later, Paiva was arrested along with three others alleged to be involved in the kidnapping. The group allegedly buried her body in the woods in Rio de Janeiro where police conducted searches, but her remains have never been found. Whereas her family does not accept this version of events and believes that Priscila is still alive somewhere. Belfort still maintains a missing page on the Brazilian version of his website.
Vitor Belfort Career Timeline
- Vitor Belfort moved to the USA at the age of 19 to compete. his first sanctioned mixed martial arts match was in an event called “Superbrawl” in Hawaii. He fought against his opponent, Jon Hess. He defeated Jon in 12 seconds by knockout.
- Then, he moved to compete in the UFC where he got his nickname “The Phenom”.
- During his UFC debut event, he beat two fighters winning the UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament.
- He successfully became the age of 19, Belfort became the youngest fighter to score a victory inside the octagon at the age of 19.
- His next match was against the UFC 6 runner-up, Tank Abbott in a non-tournament fight, where he knocked down Abbott, finishing him with a ground and pound attack.
- He next fought against American Greco-Roman wrestler Randy Couture in 1997 where he lost. Then, he fought against Joe Charles, whom he defeated via armbar.
- Next, he faced Brazilian star and future PRIDE Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva where he was knocked down by TKO in 44 seconds.
- After winning the fight, he moved on to fight in Japan’s PRIDE Fighting Championships. There, he firstly fought against Kazushi Sakuraba in 1999 where he lost the match.
- Next, he fought in PRIDE against Alistair Overeem, Gilbert Yvel, Daijiro Matsui, Bobby Southworth, and Heath Herring.
- In the opening round of the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix, he fought against Alistair Overeem with whom he lost via first-round guillotine choke.
- He returned to the UFC where he was scheduled to fight Tito Ortiz in the main event of UFC’s first Las Vegas show at UFC 33. Later, the bout was canceled due to his injury.
- His next fight was on 31st January 2004, a rematch with Randy Couture for the UFC Light heavyweight Championship. He defeated Randy Couture in 49 seconds. The third match between them took place on 21st August 2004 where Couture won via doctor stoppage after the third round, recapturing the title.
- After that, he fought against Tito Ortiz on 5th February 2005 where he lost.
- He also fought in Strikeforce for a rematch with Alistair Overeem, in which Belfort was defeated via unanimous decision.
- At Pride 32: The Real Deal on 21st October 2006, he lost a unanimous decision to Pride Welterweight Champion Dan Henderson. After the fight, he was tested positive for an illegal substance, 4-hydroxytestosterone.
- In his defense, Belfort argued that he had purchased an over-the-counter supplement that contained 4-Hydroxytestosterone. Belfort also explained that he may have received 4-Hydroxytestosterone as the result of rehabilitative injections given to him by Brazilian endocrinologist Dr. Rodrigo M. Greco after his surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee in the summer of 2006. The Nevada State Athletic Commission eventually received a statement from Dr. Greco stating that he did give Belfort post-surgical injections containing testosterone.
- While conceding that Belfort may have not known about the testosterone, the NSAC explained that even if Belfort was given injections by a medical practitioner who did not inform him that they contained anabolic steroids, it would still be a violation of the banned substances policy. On 21 December 2006, he was suspended for nine months from the date of the hearing and fined $10,000.
- On 21st April 2007, he defeated Ivan Serati by TKO at Cage Rage 21 in England.
- Similarly, he defeated James Zikic on 22nd September 2007 at Cage Rage 23. Winning the match, he claimed the Cage Rage light heavyweight title in a unanimous decision.
- He spent a brief time training for his Affliction fight against Terry Martin with Chute Boxe in Brazil.
- During a press conference, Dana White announced that the UFC had re-signed Belfort to a contract. His first match was against Rich Franklin which Belfort won by knockout.
- He fought against Anderson Silva at UFC 126, where he lost by knockout after getting hit with a front kick to the face and taking two punches after falling to the mat. He next defeated Yoshihiro Akiyama winning the fight by knockout one minute and fifty-two seconds.
- He was selected to coach The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil against Wanderlei Silva. The rematch between Belfort and Silva was expected to take place on 23rd June 2012, at UFC 147. Belfort was forced to pull out of the bout on 27th May 2012, citing a broken hand in training and he was replaced by Rich Franklin.
- At light heavyweight, he faced Dan Henderson on 9th November 2013 at UFC Fight Night 32 where he defeated Henderson.
- He was defeated by Chris Weidman which took place on 23rd May 2015 at UFC 187 via TKO.
- He faced and defeated Dan Henderson in a rubber match at UFC Fight Night 77 on 7th November 2015.
- He lost the fight via TKO in the first round against Ronaldo Souza on 14th May 2016.
- After that, he had fought against Gegard Mousasi (lost) on 8th October 2016, against Kelvin Gastelum on 11th March 2017 (lost), against Nate Marquardt on 3rd June 2017 (won), against Lyoto Machida on 12th May 2018 (lost).
- He announced his retirement from the MMA competition after the fight with Lyoto Machida.
- He announced his intentions to return from retirement on the Helwani Show on 17th December 2018.
- On 1st March 2019, it was reported that Belfort was signed by ONE Championship. On 28th April 2020, he announced that he will be making his promotional debut against Alain Ngalani. Whereas he parted ways with ONE Championship without fighting for the promotion.
- Regarding his MMA records, he fought 41 matches altogether. Out of which he won 26 fights and lost 14 matches.
Awards, Championships, and Accomplishments
Mixed martial arts
Ultimate Fighting Championship
- UFC Light Heavyweight Championship (One time)
- UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament Championship
- Knockout of the Night (Five times)
- Performance of the Night (One time)
- Most knockouts in UFC history (12)
- Most first-round finishes in UFC history (13)
- Youngest UFC tournament winner (19 years, 313 days)
Cage Rage Championships
- Cage Rage World Light heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World MMA Awards
- 2013 Knockout of the Year vs. Luke Rockhold
Sherdog
- 2013 All-Violence First Team
Submission grappling
- ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship
- ADCC 2001 Absolute division – Bronze medal
Weight(s)
- Heavyweight (1996–1997, 1999–2001, 2020–Present)
- Light Heavyweight (1998–2007, 2012, 2013)
- Middleweight (2008–2018)
Who is Vitor Belfort married to?
Vitor Belfort is a married man. He tied a knot to his beautiful wife, Joana Prado, a Brazilian-American businesswoman, TV personality, and former model by profession. They started dating in 2000 and had broken up for a brief while in 2002 but they reunited when they were both participating in a reality TV show. Later, they had both been featured on the cover of the Brazilian edition of Playboy magazine. They later got married in the year 2003. They are also the proud parents of three children; a son named Davi Belfort (b. February 6, 2005) and two daughters named Victoria Belfort (b. 2007) and Kyara Belfort (b. 2009). As of today, the married couple is enjoying their present life happily without any disturbances. There is no sign of divorce between them. His sexual orientation is straight and he is not gay.
Source: @instagram.com/vitorbelfort
How much is Vitor Belfort Net Worth?
Vitor Belfort is a professional fighter whose net worth is estimated to have $6 Million as of 2021 as per sources. He has earned such great fortune from his boxing, which has spread all over the world in various Championships. His salary is in a million for the championship in UFC Fight Night. His main source of wealth comes from his fighting career and he is living a lavish lifestyle as of today.
What is the Height and Weight of Vitor Belfort?
Vitor Belfort is a very handsome and charming man who stands tall at the perfect height of 6 feet and his balanced well-maintained body weight consist of 84 Kg. His highest reach is 6 ft 2 in or 188 cm. His body type is athletic. His hair color is dark brown and he has a pair of hazel eyes. He has a tones physique with short-cropped hair. His both arms are covered with tattoos. His other body measurements such as chest size, biceps size, and more are unavailable at a moment. Overall, he has got a healthy body with a charming personality.
Leave a Reply