Tag: UFC 126

Relaxed and Rehabbed Vitor Belfort Ready for Anderson Silva

Filed under: UFC, NewsFew of his contemporaries are still fighting at a similar level as Vitor Belfort. When the Brazilian striker burst on to the UFC scene in 1997, he was just 19 years old. Today’s mixed martial arts has only a passing resemblance to…

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Few of his contemporaries are still fighting at a similar level as Vitor Belfort. When the Brazilian striker burst on to the UFC scene in 1997, he was just 19 years old. Today’s mixed martial arts has only a passing resemblance to that previous incarnation, yet Belfort has evolved along with the sport.

At 33 years old, he’s one of few remaining fighters from those old days capable of still headlining a major card, let alone and fighting at a championship level. Next Saturday at UFC 126, Belfort becomes the next to attempt to dislodge Anderson Silva off the middleweight throne, a task that has so far proven impossible.

Despite the high-stakes matchup, Belfort says that he no longer lets the enormity of the moment overwhelm him.

Total Jinx Alert: Soares Wants Anderson Silva to Retire ‘Undefeated in the UFC’

("On our way in here, we totally walked under a ladder. Anybody got an umbrella? Pop that shit open." PicProps: Us.)
In other sports, they have rules about this kind of thing. In baseball, dude has a perfect game going, you’re not allow…


("On our way in here, we totally walked under a ladder. Anybody got an umbrella? Pop that shit open." PicProps: Us.)

In other sports, they have rules about this kind of thing. In baseball, dude has a perfect game going, you’re not allowed to go anywhere near him in the dugout, let alone fuck around and say some dumb shit like, “Hey, Nolan! I sure hope you can close out this perfect game!” In football, whenever you hear a play-by-play announcer say something about how a kicker hasn’t missed a field goal all year, well, you pretty much know what’s coming next, right? In MMA these rules seemingly don’t apply, as manager Ed Soares made a recent appearance on MMA Weekly radio and spoke with an apparent disregard for Anderson Silva’s current 12-fight win-streak in the Octagon, and 13 consecutive victories overall.

“In a perfect world, I’d like to see Anderson retire going undefeated in the UFC,” Soares said. “If I could have my perfect world, that’s what I would love to see.”

Well shit, Ed, you unbelievable jinx, you.  If Silva goes out and immediately drops the strap to Vitor Belfort next month, I guess we know who to blame …

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Vitor Belfort Wants Shawn Tompkins to Know He’s Doing Just Fine Training Without Him, Thank You Very Much

("Tell me again what it was like hanging out on the set with Hocky Balboa.")
When a story emerged last week that less than a month prior to the bout Vitor Belfort had jumped ship from training with Shawn Tompkins at TapouT Training Centre i…


("Tell me again what it was like hanging out on the set with Hocky Balboa.")

When a story emerged last week that less than a month prior to the bout Vitor Belfort had jumped ship from training with Shawn Tompkins at TapouT Training Centre in Las Vegas in favor of holding his camp for his February 5 UFC 126 showdown with UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva at Xtreme Couture, the Internet exploded with theories about the obvious fragile mental state of "The Phenom" and fans and pundits quickly began writing off the former UFC heavyweight champ’s chances in the fight.

According to Belfort, the truth is, although he returned to working under the tutelage of Tompkins for this camp, he never really actually stopped training at the Randy Couture-helmed gym.

In a recent Twitter post Vitor (who incidentally trained almost exclusively with the Xtreme Couture coaches he’s working with now like Gil Martinez and Ray Sefo for his planned UFC 122 fight with Yushin Okami that was scrapped in favor of the Belfort-Silva bout next month) wrote that Tompkins was way off in his assessment of the situation.

"I dont think I have anything nice to say other than just ignoring it all. I have the right to choose who to train with. I have loyalty and respect and that is why I didn’t hide[the fact that I was also training at Xtreme Couture] from him," Belfort tweeted. "He tooks this more personally. I made my choice and this is just his opinion of it and nothing more."

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Official UFC 126 Trailer Makes a Number of Dubious Claims

(VidProps: You Tube/UFC)
If you’re anything like us, you got your first good look at the official trailer for UFC 126 on Saturday night during the Fight for the Troops show on SpikeTV and thought, “Wow, almost everything said during that …


(VidProps: You Tube/UFC)

If you’re anything like us, you got your first good look at the official trailer for UFC 126 on Saturday night during the Fight for the Troops show on SpikeTV and thought, “Wow, almost everything said during that 31 seconds is extremely debatable.” Granted, the UFC is known for its revisionist history and these promotional spots are typically designed to bend the truth however much is necessary to get dudes who don’t really know that much about MMA interested in dropping 50 bones on the per-per-view. Even considering that, this particular commercial seems pretty, uh, erroneous. Anyway, watch it, then follow the jump for our picks of the five most questionable assertions made here …  

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Dana White: Georges St-Pierre vs. Anderson Silva Could Happen in 2011

Filed under: UFC, NewsFORT HOOD, Texas – UFC president Dana White on Friday told a small group of troops at the Fort Hood military post in Killeen, Texas, that a long-discussed superfight could come to fruition this year.

Speaking at a question-and-a…

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FORT HOOD, Texas – UFC president Dana White on Friday told a small group of troops at the Fort Hood military post in Killeen, Texas, that a long-discussed superfight could come to fruition this year.

Speaking at a question-and-answer session that was closed to the public and attended only by enlisted military personnel, White said a fight between welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and middleweight champion Anderson Silva might take place in 2011.

Both fighters’ dominance in their respective divisions would lead to the matchup, though White cautioned that both need to win their upcoming title defenses.

Jon Jones Unhurt After Crashing His Ride, Other Motorist Not So Lucky

(Couple hours later, the owner of an Albuquerque body shop tweeted: “Affluent fighter dude needs complete rebuild on front driver’s side of Chrysler 300. GOD IS GOOD!” PicProps: @JonnyBones)
What is with these young people today and …

(Couple hours later, the owner of an Albuquerque body shop tweeted: “Affluent fighter dude needs complete rebuild on front driver’s side of Chrysler 300. GOD IS GOOD!” PicProps: @JonnyBones)

What is with these young people today and crashing their cars just before big fights? UFC light heavyweight prospect Jon Jones smashed up his Chrysler 300 on Wednesday afternoon while he and a carload of teammates were on their way to a dog park in between training sessions, according to the fighter’s own Twitter account. Jones was uninjured and his upcoming fight with Ryan Bader will reportedly not be effected. One partly hilarious, partly dreadful but altogether telling side note to this is that Jones immediately jumped on his Twitter after the wreck to declare “GOD IS GOOD” … even though he later admitted a woman in the other car left the scene on a stretcher.

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