It can’t be easy stepping onto the biggest stage in the sport of MMA, but that is exactly what Pedro Nobre agreed to do in his debut in the UFC in his home country of Brazil. Nobre was facing Yuri Alcantara and things were tense from the start, w…
It can’t be easy stepping onto the biggest stage in the sport of MMA, but that is exactly what Pedro Nobre agreed to do in his debut in the UFC in his home country of Brazil.
Nobre was facing Yuri Alcantara and things were tense from the start, which is to be expected anytime a new face is exposed to the harsh lights of the UFC for the first time. After all, this is the same stage shared by Wanderlei Silva, Anderson Silva and countless other Brazilian fighters of note—including VitorBelfort, who squares off against Michael Bisping in the main card headliner bout tonight.
But this isn’t about anyone else except Pedro Nobre, who was and always has been the master of his own destiny.
The long and the short of it was that Nobre seemed to go with the flow of a referee stoppage in the action, after said referee (Dan Miragliotta) felt that a timeout was due, halting the action as Alcantara was reigning down blows upon Nobre from the back-mount position.
As the fight was paused, Nobre was asked if he could continue and he decided he could not, which in itself would not be so bad had the replays not shown that all the blows he was taking looked to be landing on the side of his head.
None of the shots that led to the stoppage looked to be illegal, but Miragliotta left the choice up to Nobre and he indicated that he could not continue. Thus the bout was called and is now in the record books as a no contest.
Upon viewing the replays, most in attendance, including Dana White, felt that Nobre was doing nothing more than acting at the worst possible time: when he was at a disadvantage in the fight and on his way to defeat.
“That was BS!!!” White tweeted. “Pedro is an award winning actor and horrible call by Dan M.”
The fallout is sure to continue. Bleacherreport.com will keep you posted to the events as they unfold.
Pedro Nobre was booed on his way out of the Octagon at UFC on FX 7, holding the back of his head like he’d been hit with a baseball bat.However, the real truth is that Yuri Alcantara seemed to barely touch him.During their bantamweight bout on the…
Pedro Nobre was booed on his way out of the Octagon at UFC on FX 7, holding the back of his head like he’d been hit with a baseball bat.
However, the real truth is that Yuri Alcantara seemed to barely touch him.
During their bantamweight bout on the FX undercard at Ibirapuera Arena in Sao Paulo, Nobre gamely fought off one of the longest, more grizzly kimura attempts in MMA history.
Midway into the first round, Alcantara nearly completed that submission attempt, even locking his leg over Nobre’s face before losing the advantage and taking Nobre’s back.
What followed afterward was absurd.
Alcantara, visibly measuring his punches’ accuracy to avoid a foul, found himself stopped by veteran referee Dan Miragliotta as Nobre complained about illegal punches to the back of the head.
Upon viewing the replay, though, it all seemed to be an act.
Alcantara barely seemed to hit anywhere close to the illegal “mohawk” area on the back of Nobre’s head, with color commentator and retired UFC fighter Kenny Florian pointing out that the strikes barely had any force to them.
But Nobre continued to act like he’d been hit with a gunshot, prompting ringside officials and his cornermen to carry him out the ring. Fans visibly booed the “wounded” fighter, with even UFC president Dana White calling out Nobre for his antics:
That was BS!!! Pedro is an award winning actor and horrible call by Dan M — Dana White (@danawhite) January 19, 2013
“It couldn’t be more clear,” Florian added. “Landed right on the ear.”
Fortunately, Alcantara won’t draw a loss for his so-called foul shots.
Although Nobre may have been looking for a win via disqualification, Miragliotta ruled the match as a “no contest” result.
Nobre didn’t win any fans in his UFC debut, as his performance was ridiculed by an audibly angry Brazilian crowd. But Alcantara is arguably worse off, as he left the cage without the possibility of a victory to make up for his time and training.
When Vitor Belfort and Michael Bisping meet in the main event of UFC on FX 7, a lot will be on the line. Bisping is fighting for a title opportunity and has all but dismissed Belfort’s chances of defeating him. Both men will attempt to attack the other…
When VitorBelfort and Michael Bisping meet in the main event of UFC on FX 7, a lot will be on the line. Bisping is fighting for a title opportunity and has all but dismissed Belfort‘s chances of defeating him.
Both men will attempt to attack the other fighter’s weaknesses, but what are their strengths?
VitorBelfort
VitorBelfort owns some of the fastest hands in MMA history. But his hand speed hasn’t been flooring people lately as much as his pure punching power.
Even though his last fight was a loss, it showed a great deal about Belfort as a fighter.
Instead of relying on his main strength of punching prowess, Belfort pulled guard and attempted to use his Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills. He came within seconds of tapping Jon Jones and taking the light heavyweight title after stepping up on short notice.
Belfort may look to use his grappling skills once more against Bisping. The Brazilian would enjoy a significant advantage due to his jiu-jitsu skills, and in a five-round fight, points from takedowns could be key on the scorecards.
Even if Belfort looks to use his grappling, he will still rely on the strength of his striking. Bisping‘s chin has been questionable, and very few fighters hit harder than Belfort. The Brazilian knows he needs to land only one solid punch to have his hand raised in victory.
Michael Bisping
As a former kickboxer, Bisping loves to unleash a barrage of multiple strikes upon his opponent. Utilizing technique over strength, Bisping throws combinations at will.
Bisping will likely look to use his kickboxing to take out the legs of Belfort in this fight. Without a proper base, Belfort will be unable to land powerful punches or shoot for takedowns.
Bisping is a gamer and won’t be scared if the fight goes to the mat. Even though Belfort holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Bisping has never been tapped out. The British fighter has also only been knocked out once in his career by one of the hardest punchers in MMA history, Dan Henderson.
A durable fighter who loves to throw punches (and kicks) in bunches, Bisping will bring the fight to Belfort from bell to bell.
He’s not going to back down from the power of Belfort, which could lead to an impressive showing by Bisping or another highlight-reel KO for Belfort.
If you’re going to be a fighter in any generation, there are certain things you need to have in order to offset any deficiencies you may suffer from, and ideally the ratio is 2-to-1.If you don’t have much of a chin, then you need to have a …
If you’re going to be a fighter in any generation, there are certain things you need to have in order to offset any deficiencies you may suffer from, and ideally the ratio is 2-to-1.
If you don’t have much of a chin, then you need to have a lot of mobility and good defense. Don’t have any real knockout power? Then hopefully you have a damn good chin and the endurance to keep attacking so you can pile up the points.
But usually, you need one of the Holy Trinity: knockout power, a granite chin or blinding speed. If you have one of those three, then you have a foundation upon which to build a respectable fighter, maybe even a champion.
Michael Bisping, sad to say, possesses none of these traits, especially at the level he is at now.
That’s not to say he doesn’t have any shining points, because he does, but to be brutally honest, his success of late has been based upon tenacity, good conditioning and being faithful to the axioms that it’s better to give than receive and that the best defense is a good offense.
None of that is going to matter against VitorBelfort if he hasn’t let Bisping’s mind games and psychological warfare rattle him.
Belfort is attended by two of the blessed three—blinding speed and KO power—and his chin is sturdy enough to say the third will show up in Brazil against the somewhat “feather-fisted” Michael Bisping.
Of course I don’t think Bisping has light hands at all, but I don’t think he’s going to be knocking Belfort out anytime soon.
Bisping is an accumulation puncher who simply keeps on piling up the points until you wilt, at which point he pours it on for the ref stoppage, and that is a perfectly acceptable way to win a fight.
But against Belfort, he won’t be the fastest man in the ring, nor will he be the strongest, the toughest or the most experienced. If they start trading heavy leather equally, Belfort is going to be the one capable of taking more damage and dishing it out.
This does factor into the whole picture based on one simple fact: Bisping gets rocked on a consistent basis—meaning the other guy manages to stagger or stun Bisping at least once in the fight.
Proof of this can be found in Bisping’s fights against Brian Stann, YoshihiroAkiyama, Wanderlei Silva, Dennis Kang, Dan Henderson and so on.
How Bisping has managed to overcome this problem in most of his fights is by utilizing excellent timing to snatch up some takedowns and score points. If ever there has been a fighter who has learned how to build a career on points and daring, it’s Michael Bisping.
But it is highly unlikely that Bisping will be getting any takedowns on Belfort, who possesses greater reaction time than anyone else he’s ever faced.
That leaves a battle of punches and kicks, and in that kind of situation, the person swinging the longer, heavier blade usually wins.
And that is bad news for Bisping.
Also, by now, most anyone who has enjoyed watching Bisping fight (as I do) has seen a pattern emerge, and if we can see it, odds are that Belfort and his trainers have seen it as well.
When opponents with power attack Bisping aggressively, keep the pressure on and keep firing, Bisping usually becomes a much more hittable target who is not only quicker to cover up instead of circling out of danger, but who can also slip up into uncharacteristically bad habits, such as circling to the right of a man like Dan Henderson.
When allowed to dictate the pace and distance of the fight, Bisping can ride his bike around an opponent all night long, using an unappreciated jab and short, crisp combinations to rack up the points while keeping himself out of danger.
But when the other guy decides he wants to push Bisping off his bike and really throw heavy leather with bad intentions, Bisping is usually in trouble.
Against VitorBelfort, Bisping should be hoping all his talk has done most of the hard work for him—inside Belfort’s head—because if not, Belfort has the speed, KO power, footwork and takedown defense needed to cut the cage off, box Bisping in along the cage and then ship him out.
But I am pulling for Bisping and not because I dislike Belfort. I just happen to think the sport would be well served by seeing a Brit like Bisping fighting Anderson Silva for the middleweight title, in England.
Sadly, I don’t think that will happen anytime soon.
Vitor Belfort’s UFC career dates all the way back to February 1997, when he won the UFC 12 tournament by steamrolling his competition.Since then, Belfort has been in and out of the UFC ranks, but he didn’t leave the organization due to lack of success….
VitorBelfort‘s UFC career dates all the way back to February 1997, when he won the UFC 12 tournament by steamrolling his competition.
Since then, Belfort has been in and out of the UFC ranks, but he didn’t leave the organization due to lack of success. The Brazilian is a former UFC light heavyweight champion, and he has challenged for the 205-pound and 185-pound titles during his current and likely final stint with the organization.
While he never became the dominant champion many thought he could become after showing such promise in his first few UFC fights, Belfort has had a very solid career and will be remembered long after his eventual retirement.
As Belfort prepares for a fight that could return him to middleweight title contention, let’s take a look at all of his UFC appearances and how they stack up.
Before the fighters are able to step into the Octagon Saturday night for the UFC on FX 7 event, they first needed to step onto the scales on Friday. Outside of C.J. Keith coming in at 157 pounds, the weigh-ins went down without a hitch. Vitor Belf…
Before the fighters are able to step into the Octagon Saturday night for the UFC on FX 7 event, they first needed to step onto the scales on Friday.
Outside of C.J. Keith coming in at 157 pounds, the weigh-ins went down without a hitch. VitorBelfort and Michael Bisping nearly came to blows at the press conference earlier this week but were able to tone it down for the weigh-ins.
That’s not to say that the two men exchanged some choice words, but a physical altercation never took place.
Bisping has been fired up heading into his contest with Belfort as he knows a lot is on the line. The Englishman has been guaranteed that if he can defeat Belfort, a future UFC title shot is in the cards for Bisping.
Belfort is coming off a loss but that was against UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Belfort came the closest to finishing Jones and to date has been the only UFC fighter to put the champion in any danger.
Prior to stepping up on short notice to face Jones, Belfort had won two straight bouts with both ending inside the first round.
The card’s co-main event features another explosive Brazilian, as Daniel Sarafian takes on C.B. Dollaway.
Sarafian was originally supposed to compete in the finale of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil but suffered an injury leading up to his UFC 147 bout. Sarafian looked to be one of the more complete fighters who competed on the show and was the favorite to win the competition.
Dollaway is a TUF veteran as well, losing in the finale to AmirSadollah. The former All-American wrestler at Arizona State University has gone 6-3 in his UFC tenure, but hasn’t been able to win any big name fights.
Also featured on the card is a heavyweight showdown between Ben Rothwell and Gabriel Gonzaga.
Rothwell, a former IFL and Affliction Entertainment veteran, made his UFC debut at UFC 104 and was summarily dominated by future world champion Cain Velasquez. Since joining the UFC’s ranks, Rothwell has alternated wins and losses, but looked great in his last outing against Brendan Schaub.
Gonzaga first competed in the UFC back at UFC 56 and is no stranger to the Octagon. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt earned a title shot against Randy Couture, but since then has been stuck at gatekeeper status in the division.
After a brief retirement from the sport, Gonzaga has won two-straight bouts including a first round submission against EdnaldoOliveira at UFC 142.
Pedro Nobre was booed on his way out of the Octagon at