How would Vitor Belfort have done against Igor Vovchanchyn?

As well as BJ Penn would have done against Islam Makhachev.
 
Igor was very difficult to take down and control, much bigger people than Vitor tried so it’s going to be Vitors hand speed vs Igor’s nitrogen bombs . I think Igor is going to hurt him at some point and win it , but it’s a tough fight for both
 
achoo42 said:
Let's say circa 1998, so this is "no known weaknesses" era Vitor.

Certainly this would be one of the most violent fights that never was.
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Love the hypothetical.
Vovchanchyn already had crazy experience by that time, and a definite weight advantage. Vitor might do well on the ground, but that ain't easy against a haymaker-slinging cannon ball. Weirdly enough, it would either be a brutal, quick KO . . . but somehow the majority of fights that I think that will happen in end up being snoozers, so who knows.

I remember that they were trying to get Vovchanchyn vs Wanderlei for Pride's final event, which would have been so glorious, but obviously it never happened and I recall Igor's hands already being broken and problematic (hence the semi-early retirement).
 
Elvis. said:
Igor was very difficult to take down and control, much bigger people than Vitor tried so it’s going to be Vitors hand speed vs Igor’s nitrogen bombs . I think Igor is going to hurt him at some point and win it , but it’s a tough fight for both
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Good point's but Igor was crazy fast at the time too. Helluva fight, but it would go to Igor.
 
JKS said:
They almost fought, if Belfort beat Overeem, the fight would have happened next.
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Interesting. But that was much later. Neither were in their 1998 form. Belfort wasn't old in the mid-2000s, but went through that awful ordeal with his sister getting kidnapped/murdered and wasn't fighting very well at the time.
 
Hard fight to call. I'm sure some will bring up Igor's early 40-2 record before Pride, but he was mostly fighting Russian nobodies and a few former UFC freakshow guys like Paul Varelens and Fred Floyd. Vitor had crazy handspeed and Igor never fought a striker like that in his prime. It's also very unlikely that he would've come up with a "dirty boxing" plan like Couture, who was a high-level wrestler that boxed in his Army days. Igor was a striker who could handle himself relatively well on the ground if he had to, but not by choice.

I'll go against the grain and say Vitor by handspeed and swarming, similar to the Wand fight. This is especially true if it's before Vitor-Couture, when there was no gameplan available to beat him. I think Igor's chances of winning would increase steadily the longer the fight went on, though. Vitor was a front-runner and won most of his fights via early finish.
 
TheMaster said:
Interesting, but Igor was a dynamo and Vitor was exposed much more later on so I go with the Slavic warrior.
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Vitor was exposed in the wrestling and fence-fighting aspects. A guy like Igor plays right into his hands. Vitor's straight punches are gonna cut through Igor's slower hooks. Just like Wanderlei.
 
Igor by KO. Vitor wasn’t roided enough yet

I love some things Vitor did and he had balls (small,roided ones) but there are few fighters whose career was as dependent on juice.
 
Igor by KO cause Vitor was a LHW and should have lost to Heath Herring. He got the decision cause according to Pride rules the lighter fighter is favored in the decision if it's a competitive fight.

Edit : Actually Heat beat Igor "too".

So I can't tell who would won. Can you imagine the power and speed of these punches. What did Igor weigh ?
 
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Qays Stetkevich said:
Love the hypothetical.
Vovchanchyn already had crazy experience by that time, and a definite weight advantage. Vitor might do well on the ground, but that ain't easy against a haymaker-slinging cannon ball. Weirdly enough, it would either be a brutal, quick KO . . . but somehow the majority of fights that I think that will happen in end up being snoozers, so who knows.

I remember that they were trying to get Vovchanchyn vs Wanderlei for Pride's final event, which would have been so glorious, but obviously it never happened and I recall Igor's hands already being broken and problematic (hence the semi-early retirement).
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i'm still hurt that one didn't go down, i really thought igor was gonna tear shit up at LHW.
 
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