Filed under: UFC, NewsVitor Belfort has worked with striking coach Shawn Tompkins since mid-2008, when Belfort first walked into the gym of longtime rival Randy Couture in hopes of training with him.
The union between coach and fighter has been produc…
Vitor Belfort has worked with striking coach Shawn Tompkins since mid-2008, when Belfort first walked into the gym of longtime rival Randy Couture in hopes of training with him.
The union between coach and fighter has been productive. Belfort earned three knockouts in three fights while under Tompkins’ watch. But with Belfort in the midst of preparation for the biggest match of his career — a UFC 126 title shot against champ Anderson Silva — the partnership is apparently over.
(“I’m telling you man, we’ll get our own place. I’m thinking bunk beds, bean bag chairs, black light posters and all the soda we can drink. Whaddaya say?” PicProps: Flickr)
Well, we can’t see how this could possibly…
(“I’m telling you man, we’ll get our own place. I’m thinking bunk beds, bean bag chairs, black light posters and all the soda we can drink. Whaddaya say?” PicProps: Flickr)
Tompkins sounds a little peeved about the split and we gotta believe the differences were pretty irreconcilable to prompt “The Phenom” (who, let’s face it, has always seemed a little flighty) to decamp so close to his scheduled middleweight title fight against Anderson Silva on Feb. 5. After the jump, a short-ish transcript of Ranallo’s and Tompkins’ talk, courtesy Fight Opinion …
Shawn “The Coach” Tompkins who heads up Team Tompkins out of TapouT Training Facility in Las Vegas recently disclosed on The Fight Show with Mauro Ranallo that UFC 126 Middleweight Champion Contender, Vitor Belfort had parted ways with Tompkins as he prepares for his February 5th Main Event bout against Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva. […]
Shawn “The Coach” Tompkins who heads up Team Tompkins out of TapouT Training Facility in Las Vegas recently disclosed on The Fight Show with Mauro Ranallo that UFC 126 Middleweight Champion Contender, Vitor Belfort had parted ways with Tompkins as he prepares for his February 5th Main Event bout against Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva. Tompkins said:
“Well, you know, Vitor’s done this before. Vitor sometimes, he gets a little clouded in his head. It’s not that he brought in Mike Tyson or anything like that. Vitor just wanders, you know, and he goes where what’s happening, what’s famous, what’s popular and he’ll go over there. Mike Tyson isn’t teaching him anything. Neither is the other eight gyms that he’s training at. Just because he’s over at Couture’s and not with me doesn’t mean he’s with Couture. Vitor isn’t loyal to anybody. We’ve seen it before.”
Belfort’s decision to leave Tompkins just weeks before his fight seems a bizarre and unfair decision to Shawn Tompkins who has trained Belfort since 2008. Tompkins goes on to say:
“I hope for the best for him, but you know, for a guy who told me about respect, loyalty, and God and all this stuff for so many years, he sure did prove the opposite, so, we’ll see. Best of luck to him. Best of luck to Anderson, as well.”
Find out if our expert panelists believe Belfort’s departure from Shawn Tompkins could negatively affect his upcoming title-shot, when we discuss UFC 126 BETTING ODDS. Stay tuned.
(Video courtesy YouTube/ARK1988LAB)You would think that if one were to interview 15 MMA experts, at least one would have a differing opinion than the rest.
Apparently this isn’t the case in Brazil, where pretty much everyone believes that Anderson Silv…
(Video courtesy YouTube/ARK1988LAB)
You would think that if one were to interview 15 MMA experts, at least one would have a differing opinion than the rest.
Although a few of the 15 Brazilian experts Tatame recently asked about their predictions for the fight added the disclaimers that, "anything could happen" and that "Vitor is a tough opponent," not one of them chose "The Phenom" to win the bout, even with his recent revelation that Jesus will be his cornerman for the fight.
Check out the 15 ways the 15 experts think Silva is going to beat Belfort after the jump.
(Props: foxsports)
And here we have the 10-minute hype-reel for UFC 126, which goes down February 5th in Las Vegas. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but has anybody else noticed that the interpreter-voice they give to Anderson Silva these day…
And here we have the 10-minute hype-reel for UFC 126, which goes down February 5th in Las Vegas. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but has anybody else noticed that the interpreter-voice they give to Anderson Silva these days sounds like a really smug asshole? I don’t know. Back in the day, they’d just use Ed Soares to dub his voice. Now he sounds like more of a heel character. Intentional?
Anyway, what else. Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin see themselves as very similar competitors. "You have a fairly well-rounded fighter that has some knockout power on his feet, and is a very tenacious fighter, and as the fight goes on he fights harder," Rich says. "Did I just describe me or did I describe Forrest?" (Don’t answer, it’s a trick question.) Griffin says he’ll beat Franklin "no problem," though it’s possible that he’s just trying to be funny like usual.
The full lineup for UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort is after the jump…
(Holiness is next to craziness. PicProps: Bonyacaiusa.com)
Gotta admit, those “I’m Expect Jesus, Bro, Every Day” bumper stickers we had printed up a few months ago aren’t exactly flying off the shelves like we hoped they might. …
“I think every day that I’m gonna win the fight, that I’m gonna push the pace,” Belfort says. “I have to look for the opening, look for the gap and if it goes to the ground I have to look for the submission. If we’re (standing) I have to look in his eyes and know I’m gonna beat him. He’s the champion and I’m the challenger, it’s gonna be a lion facing a lion. It’s gonna be a great, great fight. I’m on a journey right now, I’m about to accomplish my journey. In the name of Jesus, I’m gonna leave there with a victory, for sure."