Despite suffering a one-sided defeat at the hands of then-UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman last year, Vitor Belfort believes he can challenge for the title again very soon.
Belfort (25-11) is set to meet Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in a key middleweight showdown later this year at UFC 198 from Brazil. During a special press conference on Wednesday, “The Phenom” explained his stance.
“I’m sure that the winner of this fight deserves to fight for the belt,” Belfort said (thanks to MMAjunkie.com for transcribing). “Something that’s given can be taken away, but something that’s conquered, nobody can take away. ‘Jacare’ and I deserve it.
“It’s a matter of training and focusing on this fight and destiny is made today, so we’ve got to focus on today.”
Following the Weidman loss, Belfort rebounded with a finish of Dan Henderson in November. He also holds a knockout win over current division kingpin Luke Rockhold from 2013 in Brazil.
“I know that my opponent is a world champion so I’m preparing myself,” Belfort said. “”It’s MMA, it’s a mix of martial arts so you have to study the moments, perception and enjoy it. You’ve got to do this with pleasure. There’s nothing better than fighting someone at this level.
“The biggest virtue of a champion is to fight against champions. I think that’s martial arts.”
Despite suffering a one-sided defeat at the hands of then-UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman last year, Vitor Belfort believes he can challenge for the title again very soon.
Belfort (25-11) is set to meet Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in a key middleweight showdown later this year at UFC 198 from Brazil. During a special press conference on Wednesday, “The Phenom” explained his stance.
“I’m sure that the winner of this fight deserves to fight for the belt,” Belfort said (thanks to MMAjunkie.com for transcribing). “Something that’s given can be taken away, but something that’s conquered, nobody can take away. ‘Jacare’ and I deserve it.
“It’s a matter of training and focusing on this fight and destiny is made today, so we’ve got to focus on today.”
Following the Weidman loss, Belfort rebounded with a finish of Dan Henderson in November. He also holds a knockout win over current division kingpin Luke Rockhold from 2013 in Brazil.
“I know that my opponent is a world champion so I’m preparing myself,” Belfort said. “”It’s MMA, it’s a mix of martial arts so you have to study the moments, perception and enjoy it. You’ve got to do this with pleasure. There’s nothing better than fighting someone at this level.
“The biggest virtue of a champion is to fight against champions. I think that’s martial arts.”
UFC president Dana White dropped three posters for the upcoming UFC 200 event on his Instagram page shortly after the main event was confirmed Wednesday night….
UFC president Dana White dropped three posters for the upcoming UFC 200 event on his Instagram page shortly after the main event was confirmed Wednesday night.
The card, set for July 7, will feature a rematch between featherweight champion Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz at 170 pounds. Also, Jose Aldo battles Frankie Edgar for the interim featherweight belt.
A glaring mistake – or not to the UFC artwork department – can be found with a keen eye on one of the fighters.
An interim UFC featherweight champion will be crowned at UFC 200 this July, as Frankie Edgar meets Jose Aldo.
The bout was confirmed on Wednesday during an episode of “UFC Tonight.”
Edgar (20-4-1) has reeled off five consecutive wins since losing…
An interim UFC featherweight champion will be crowned at UFC 200 this July, as Frankie Edgar meets Jose Aldo.
The bout was confirmed on Wednesday during an episode of “UFC Tonight.”
Edgar (20-4-1) has reeled off five consecutive wins since losing to Aldo in 2013 for the title. The former UFC lightweight champion has bested Chad Mendes, Urijah Faber, Cub Swanson, BJ Penn and Charles Oliveira over the past two years.
Aldo (25-2) suffered his first pro loss since 2005 when Conor McGregor knocked him out in just 13 seconds this past December. Prior to the defeat, the Brazilian had successfully defended his title vs. the likes of Mendes, Ricardo Lamas, Chan Sung Jung, Edgar and Kenny Florian.
The move to crown an interim champion was done because McGregor will rematch Nate Diaz at welterweight on the July 7 card from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Along with McGregor-Diaz and Aldo-Edgar, former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez takes on Travis Browne, Joe Lauzon meets Diego Sanchez and Takanori Gomi faces Jim Miller.
The main event for UFC 200 has been revealed, as Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz will square off for a second time at welterweight.
The fight announcement was made during Wednesday night’s edition of “UFC Tonight.”
McGregor (19-3) moved up to 170 po…
The main event for UFC 200 has been revealed, as Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz will square off for a second time at welterweight.
The fight announcement was made during Wednesday night’s edition of “UFC Tonight.”
McGregor (19-3) moved up to 170 pounds to face Diaz earlier this month in the main event of UFC 196, losing via second round rear-naked choke. The loss was his first since 2010 and snapped a five-fight finish streak.
Diaz (19-10) replaced lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in the headline bout and capitalized. He has now won two straight and three of his last four, losing only to dos Anjos during that time.
The event takes place July 7 from the brand-new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
MMA legends Royce Gracie and Wanderlei Silva will be part of the upcoming Bellator 153 event, just not as active competitors.
Instead, the two will appear at a special “Meet & Greet” for ticket holders on April 22 inside the Mohegan Sun Arena. The event goes down later that night, with Benson Henderson making his Bellator debut vs. Andrey Koreshkov for the welterweight title.
The special event will begin at 6 p.m. ET.
Below is the complete press release:
Fans attending “Bellator 153: Koreshkov vs. Henderson” on April 22 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. will be able to meet two of the sport’s most popular athletes: Royce Gracie and Wanderlei Silva.
The two legendary Brazilian superstars will be participating in an exclusive meet and greet for ticketholders on the Mohegan Sun Arena concourse beginning at 6 p.m. ET.
The highly anticipated event features the debut of Benson “Smooth” Henderson (23-5), as he challenges welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov (18-1) for his belt. Former featherweight titlist Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (24-3) meets John “Macapa” Teixeira (19-1-2) in the co-main event while other bouts on the card include Connecticut’s own “Irish” Brennan Ward (13-3) and British striking sensation Michael Page (9-0) fighting Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (20-16) and Jeremie Holloway (7-1) respectively in welterweight attractions.
Tickets for “Bellator 153: Koreshkov vs. Henderson” start at just $30 and are on sale now at Bellator.com, Ticketmaster.com and the Mohegan Sun Box Office. The event airs live and free on SPIKE at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT, while preliminary bouts will stream live on Bellator.com and The Bellator Mobile App. The broadcast will be immediately followed by the groundbreaking, inaugural “Bellator Kickboxing: Torino” event.
The name Gracie is synonymous with MMA, and that is largely in part to Royce Gracie, the man who is considered to have invented the sport as we know it today. The winner of the first several UFC events, Gracie would dismantle multiple opponents in a single night, many of whom were much larger than him. For many years there was no answer for the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu technique that he brought into a fight, today, it’s hard to find an MMA fighter who hasn’t trained in the art of jiu-jitsu. This past February, Gracie defeated Ken Shamrock in a record-shattering fight that was witnessed on Spike by over 3.5 million viewers.
Having first fought in the sport almost twenty years ago, very few men have a more legendary resume than Wanderlei Silva, who was recently signed to a Bellator MMA contract. “The Axe Murderer” is a Pride and UFC veteran, who brings an intimidating and imposing presence with him every time he steps into the cage. Silva hopes of adding to an already-impressive list of wins that include: Guy Mezger, Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Ricardo Arona, Kazuyuki Fujita, Michael Bisping, Cung Le, Brian Stann and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (2x).
MMA legends Royce Gracie and Wanderlei Silva will be part of the upcoming Bellator 153 event, just not as active competitors.
Instead, the two will appear at a special “Meet & Greet” for ticket holders on April 22 inside the Mohegan Sun Arena. The event goes down later that night, with Benson Henderson making his Bellator debut vs. Andrey Koreshkov for the welterweight title.
The special event will begin at 6 p.m. ET.
Below is the complete press release:
Fans attending “Bellator 153: Koreshkov vs. Henderson” on April 22 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. will be able to meet two of the sport’s most popular athletes: Royce Gracie and Wanderlei Silva.
The two legendary Brazilian superstars will be participating in an exclusive meet and greet for ticketholders on the Mohegan Sun Arena concourse beginning at 6 p.m. ET.
The highly anticipated event features the debut of Benson “Smooth” Henderson (23-5), as he challenges welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov (18-1) for his belt. Former featherweight titlist Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (24-3) meets John “Macapa” Teixeira (19-1-2) in the co-main event while other bouts on the card include Connecticut’s own “Irish” Brennan Ward (13-3) and British striking sensation Michael Page (9-0) fighting Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (20-16) and Jeremie Holloway (7-1) respectively in welterweight attractions.
Tickets for “Bellator 153: Koreshkov vs. Henderson” start at just $30 and are on sale now at Bellator.com, Ticketmaster.com and the Mohegan Sun Box Office. The event airs live and free on SPIKE at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT, while preliminary bouts will stream live on Bellator.com and The Bellator Mobile App. The broadcast will be immediately followed by the groundbreaking, inaugural “Bellator Kickboxing: Torino” event.
The name Gracie is synonymous with MMA, and that is largely in part to Royce Gracie, the man who is considered to have invented the sport as we know it today. The winner of the first several UFC events, Gracie would dismantle multiple opponents in a single night, many of whom were much larger than him. For many years there was no answer for the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu technique that he brought into a fight, today, it’s hard to find an MMA fighter who hasn’t trained in the art of jiu-jitsu. This past February, Gracie defeated Ken Shamrock in a record-shattering fight that was witnessed on Spike by over 3.5 million viewers.
Having first fought in the sport almost twenty years ago, very few men have a more legendary resume than Wanderlei Silva, who was recently signed to a Bellator MMA contract. “The Axe Murderer” is a Pride and UFC veteran, who brings an intimidating and imposing presence with him every time he steps into the cage. Silva hopes of adding to an already-impressive list of wins that include: Guy Mezger, Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Ricardo Arona, Kazuyuki Fujita, Michael Bisping, Cung Le, Brian Stann and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (2x).
