There are few fighters or fans who aren’t impressed with the late-career resurgence of Vitor Belfort and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is no exception.
In a one-on-one interview with MMA Fighting’s Luke Thomas, “Bones” gave the hard-hitting Brazilian his due, also giving himself a proverbial pat on the back since he submitted “The Phenom” at UFC 152 last September.
It (the victory) means a lot to me, you know. To see Chael Sonnen go out there and smash everyone since our fight, to see Vitor Belfort smashing all these people … it let’s me know, ya know, that there is no luck to get to what has happened at this point. I’ve beaten these guys who are legit fighters, you know. A lot of people think that I’ve beaten people who are past their prime, and then I get guys … go out there and annihilate everyone else they fight. So yea, it makes me feel good to see these guys still dominating and it makes me feel more reassured and my abilities in the fact that I’m here today.
Belfort fought Jones on roughly one-month’s notice about 14 months ago, catching the champion off guard early in the bout with an armbar from guard.
In a testament to his toughness, the champion opted to suffer ligament damage in his elbow instead of tapping out, battering Belfort for around 16 minutes until he submitted the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with an Americana.
Since then, Belfort has scored three consecutive head-kick knockouts over Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold and Dan Henderson.
Those highlight-reel finishes have earned “The Phenom” another crack at the middleweight strap, facing off with the winner of Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva, who rematch at UFC 168 next month.
Sonnen suffered one of the most lopsided losses of his career when he was TKO’ed in the first round of his UFC 159 title bout against Jones in April, rebounding with a decisive submission win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC Fight Night 26 in August.
After 10 straight wins, including a UFC record six consecutive UFC light heavyweight title defenses, Jones next defends his title against Glover Teixeira at a venue to be announced next year.
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.
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