(photo via UFC.com)
Former UFC champion Vitor Belfort (19-9) had a chance to capture another UFC title on Saturday night but his dreams fell short when his opponent UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva laid him out with a surprising front kick to the face.
Belfort isn’t upset by the loss and congratulates Silva on being the better man that night but he knows he’ll be there again.
In a recent interview with Tatame.com, Belfort talked about ‘the kick’ from Silva plus some of the tension leading up to their bout. He knows that Silva’s antics were all just an act and when it came time to act like a champ “The Spider” did just that in his eyes.
Here are a couple of excerpts from that interview:
Look, that kind of kick is very hard to catch, it’s also hard to fit it too, but he did it. He can use this kick, but the way he did is pretty difficult to, but he did it. I believe you only get lucky if you train. He trained and got lucky. But I think it’s something that if he tried to do in ten fights he would only be succeeded once (laughs). He deserved it. I was doing fine on the fight, I was winning it, but I wasn’t lucky to fit that punch, I missed it, that punch on the ground was really powerful. If it hits him… But it didn’t and his kick hit me hard, it was his night, I can’t help it. Everything I promised to do, I did. I didn’t get the win, but it’s part of the sport. I’ll get my chance. We’ll work now so I get it the next time.
I know Anderson, I know he’s a good guy, I like him, he’s to be congratulates for his attitude at the end of the fight. If he’s a champion, he has to act like one: to be humble and, at the end of the fight, he showed it. He’s a champion, he won that fight, but I use to say: the competition goes on. One win isn’t one moment. I’m sure that, soon, I’ll get my chance again. But we can’t take Anderson’s credits, he is to be congratulates, he’s the champion and he act like one when it was over. He and all his camp, Joinha (Jorge Guimarães) and Ed Soares (Anderson’s managers) called me later to check out how I was doing… So, people are respectful, they got my message about respect. It was good for the sport, Brazil grew a lot with it, we were part of history in Brazil with this fight.