Vitor Belfort | |||||||||||||
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Belfort in 2010
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Born | Vitor Vieira Belfort April 1, 1977 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
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Other names | The Phenom | ||||||||||||
Residence | Boca Raton, Florida, United States | ||||||||||||
Nationality | Brazilian | ||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||
Weight | 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb) | ||||||||||||
Division |
Middleweight (2008–present) Light Heavyweight (1998–2007, 2012, 2013) Heavyweight (1996–1997, 2001) |
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Reach | 74.0 in (188 cm) | ||||||||||||
Style | Boxing, Kickboxing, BJJ, Judo, Shotokan Karate, Muay Thai | ||||||||||||
Fighting out of | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | ||||||||||||
Team | Fortfit Gym | ||||||||||||
Rank | Black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsuunder Carlson Gracie Black belt in Judo Purple belt in Shotokan Karate |
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Years active | 1996–2017 (retiring) (MMA) | ||||||||||||
Professional boxing record | |||||||||||||
Total | 1 | ||||||||||||
Wins | 1 | ||||||||||||
By knockout | 1 | ||||||||||||
Mixed martial arts record | |||||||||||||
Total | 39 | ||||||||||||
Wins | 25 | ||||||||||||
By knockout | 18 | ||||||||||||
By submission | 3 | ||||||||||||
By decision | 4 | ||||||||||||
Losses | 14 | ||||||||||||
By knockout | 7 | ||||||||||||
By submission | 2 | ||||||||||||
By decision | 5 | ||||||||||||
Other information | |||||||||||||
Spouse | Joana Prado | ||||||||||||
Notable students | Cezar Ferreira | ||||||||||||
Boxing record from BoxRec | |||||||||||||
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |||||||||||||
Medal record
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Vitor Vieira Belfort (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈvitoʁ viˈejɾɐ bɛwˈfɔʁ]; born April 1, 1977) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion as well as UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament Champion. Belfort was born in Rio de Janeiro and studied jiu-jitsu with Carlson Gracie. As of May 16, 2016, he is the #9 contender in official UFC middleweight rankings. He was also the last Cage Rage World Light Heavyweight Champion. He holds notable victories over world champions Luke Rockhold, Michael Bisping, Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin, Randy Couture, and Wanderlei Silva, as well as Matt Lindland and Anthony Johnson.
At the age of 19, Belfort came to the United States to compete. In his first sanctioned mixed martial arts match, an event called Superbrawl in Hawaii, his opponent was Jon Hess, whom the young Brazilian defeated in 12 seconds by knockout, despite Hess having a seven-inch height advantage and an over 100-pound weight advantage over Belfort.
Soon after, he moved on to compete in the UFC, where he was given the nickname The Phenom. He beat two fighters in his debut event in the UFC, winning the UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament. At age 19, Belfort became the youngest fighter to ever score a victory inside the octagon. Belfort's next match saw him score a technical knockout (TKO) against the UFC 6 runner-up Tank Abbott in a non-tournament fight, knocking Abbott down and finishing him with a ground and pound attack.