why do people keep saying belfort will fade?

[Flex Plexico]

I'm not doubting belfort's ability to fuck people up, he's a proven KO artist but it doesn't change the fact he's never won a war of nutrition and won a fight that goes past the 1st round, I don't see anybody saying bisping's going to blow belfort out the water in the first but over time because vitor's only chance to win appears a 1st round KO. The jones comparison isn't necessary

Attrition, right?

 

[Fat Abbot]

Vitor would get handled by Jones on the ground no matter how much he trained. What would have helped him is to open up more with his striking. I'm watching Jones vs. Rashad on Fuel TV right now, and its definitely possible to get inside Jones's reach and land on him if you're quick enough. Blitzing him with speed and pressure would have been a better strategy than pulling guard.

Then again, I have heard that Vitor's hand was broken before the fight. Can anyone verify that?

For one he hasn't even fought in the weightclass in years, with more time to prepare he could've been stronger and morer effective for 205, secondly with more time to prepare he could've been better all around, period. Does Jones still beat him on the ground, probably, but with added strength and conditioning he'd have a better chance at pulling off a sub and would likely take less damage, which would have definitely been useful.

About his hand, it wouldn't surprise me at all. He is getting older and has had problems with them for years and he did actually pull out of the wand rematch just 2 months prior due to a broken hand.

Judging by how he fought I think he did, when he fought Anderson and in a lot of his losses he threw some shots with bad intentions, he didn't use his hands at all against Jones.

 

[PivotPunch]

Johnson is a juggernaut, had 10-15lb of muscle on Vitor that night and his gameplan consisted of giving everything he had on the first round because he would not last longer.

It does not surprise that Vitor was breathing heavy after that onslaught. However, there was nothing that indicated that he was more than ready for the next round.

Johnson did pretty much the whole work and the ref kept standing them up without a reason (being brazilian is not a legit reason to stand someone up) and Vitor choked him out afterwards. He slowed down against Jones (I don't know why the weight class should matter especially since he fought at 205 before) he burned a lot of eneryg with the submission attempt but he still slowed down considerably. he didn't gas in many fights in the last 4-5 years because he finished everyone early but in fights that went longer his lack of stamina showed and stamina isn't something that gets better as you get older and start cutting to 185 when you fought at HW and LHW before.......

 

[TheStrikingGuy]

And his only wins in the last couple of years are Johnson and Akiyama.

Just saying..... duder is hard to predict.

This. So much.

There was a long time where everyone just took it as fact that Belfort was the second best MW in the world - but he so rarely fought any really good fighters that it's always been very hard to place him.

 

[rlm81]

Johnson did pretty much the whole work and the ref kept standing them up without a reason (being brazilian is not a legit reason to stand someone up) and Vitor choked him out afterwards. He slowed down against Jones (I don't know why the weight class should matter especially since he fought at 205 before) he burned a lot of eneryg with the submission attempt but he still slowed down considerably. he didn't gas in many fights in the last 4-5 years because he finished everyone early but in fights that went longer his lack of stamina showed and stamina isn't something that gets better as you get older and start cutting to 185 when you fought at HW and LHW before.......

It is pretty obvious why weight classes matter. Wrestling and clinching a much larger guy will wear you down. One does not requite a PhD to understand that. It is not random that every fight that is being mentioned has that feature: Vitor vs a much larger top wrestler (Jones, Tito, Randy).

Yes, Vitor has fought at 205 before but he packed way too much muscle to do that. Guess what? Having excessive muscle (relative to your size) is a very simple recipe for gassing.

Vitor is a natural 185lb for today's standards of weight cutting. Jones, Tito or Randy could not even dream of making 185lb.

 

[rozzer58]

Attrition, right?

No, nutrition. A war of the kale shakes

 

[Mau]

Because people still live in 2006.

 

[tenniswhiz]

Attrition, right?

It looks like you're trying to create some dissentary within the ranks!

 

[The DanaWhite]

Yea baby like I thought. Perfect matchup for vitor. Didn't prove his gas tank but I still coudnt see this fight going any other way. Bisping should have tryed and wrestled

 

[YukisHeart]

I'm not doubting belfort's ability to fuck people up, he's a proven KO artist but it doesn't change the fact he's never won a war of nutrition and won a fight that goes past the 1st round, I don't see anybody saying bisping's going to blow belfort out the water in the first but over time because vitor's only chance to win appears a 1st round KO. The jones comparison isn't necessary

Let's get it on!

 

[Ch0sen0ne]

Johnson did pretty much the whole work and the ref kept standing them up without a reason (being brazilian is not a legit reason to stand someone up) and Vitor choked him out afterwards

I think one of the main reasons for the quick standups was Johnson's massive weight advantage