Does Vitor Belfort Have Enough Left To Make a Splash in the UFC?

By now, it is basically a foregone conclusion that Vitor Belfort, who has had success in the UFC in both the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions, will return to the promotion that jump-started his career.  This time, he will apparently be brought in to test the great Anderson Silva, who has held a tight grip on the middleweight ranks since his UFC debut in 2006.  What are his chances of a renaissance in the UFC, though?

First of all, you must really understand the strange relationship between Belfort and his fans.  Vitor Belfort fans are kind of like Chicago Cubs fans, in that they are always hopeful and optimistic that there will be a time when their chosen fighter will return to his old form and finally meet his potential.  Sure, Belfort has been a former champion in the UFC, but look at his light heavyweight title win…it happened on a freak accident with a cut to Randy Couture’s eyelid, and in the rematch, Belfort promptly got dominated and lost the title.

Simply put, not many in the MMA world have done less with more talent than Vitor Belfort, and that is just the reason that fans are so often frustrated with him.  Belfort has done pretty well for himself in beating a lot of the top fighters in the world while competing for the best promotions, such as the UFC and Pride.  However, it never seemed as if Belfort’s exceedingly rare combination of quickness, boxing skills and ground game have come together as the dominating “perfect storm” that fans have always anticipated.

Belfort’s likely return will come as the fighter is enjoying a four-fight win streak, which is a welcome sight for fans of the fighter who had seen some disappointing years of late, beginning with five losses in the span of seven fights between August of 2004 and October of 2006.  Sure, Belfort only lost to the best (Couture, Tito Ortiz, Alistair Overeem twice, and Dan Henderson), but Belfort should be winning a good number of those bouts against elite fighters, if he is to be an elite fighter himself.

It is really quite bizarre that all this skepticism even surrounds such an obviously talented fighter.  The truly maddening aspect of Belfort is that often, when he loses, he just does not seem to care.  It’s as if he does not always feel like being a fighter, or a champion, for that matter.  Who among us can claim to know whether or not Belfort will ever decide to reach his potential?  Is there anyone who can definitely tell whether Belfort will truly give a fight his all or not beforehand?  Does Belfort himself even understand why he sometimes “phones it in” and seems lethargic in his fights?

Hopefully, all the questions will soon be behind Belfort, as he will need to be on top of his game to even stand a chance against a competitor as determined as Anderson Silva.  Unlike Belfort, Silva’s less-than-exciting performances are a result of his determination to win and remain as middleweight champion, rather than because he does not want to train as hard as he should or compete with aggression. 

Silva is really like an alternate version of Belfort, in a way: though their fighting styles differ (Silva prefers Muay Thai fundamentals and elusiveness, while Belfort is more of a quick, powerful boxing specialist), Silva represents what would seem to be the best possible combination of standup and ground skills, just like Belfort used to.  The difference is that Silva has seemingly eked out every possible benefit of his abilities, while Belfort clearly has not.

I will be excited to see Belfort’s first fight in the UFC when he eventually gets back in the octagon.  However, I hope that his first fight will not be against Anderson Silva.  While the questions will always surround Belfort, I would prefer to see at least some of them vanquished before he steps in to face such a task.  Hopefully, Belfort will prove all the doubters wrong and finally allow himself to reach the levels he always has been capable of reaching.

by Jon Hartley for Fightmania.com

Tags: Alistair Overeem, Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, UFC, Vitor Belfort