Issue 082

December 2011

6th

Bellator heavyweight champ Cole Konrad won his sixth fight with the promotion at Bellator 48. The former wrestling standout used some improved striking to stand with UFC vet Paul Buentello en route to the decision.

2045

Number of days between Anderson Silva’s fights against Yushin Okami. Silva lost to Okami way back in January of 2006 at Rumble on the Rock 8 due to an illegal up-kick in a bout that was refereed by UFC vet Troy Mandaloniz. It was a different story 2,045 days later when, in his home country at UFC 134 in Rio, Silva dominated Okami en route to the TKO victory. 

15

Konrad had been with Bellator for just 15 months. In that time he’s scored five decisions and one submission victory (and five of those wins came during a five-month stretch in 2010). Despite the solid effort there were some boos during the Konrad-Buentello scrap, and when asked to grade his performance Konrad gave himself a D. When asked why he was so hard on himself: “If I wasn’t I wouldn’t get any better.”

13

During the five-and-a-half-year stretch Silva won 13 fights in the UFC (excluding the victory over Okami) and one outside of the UFC when he beat Tony Fryklund in a Cage Rage bout with a crazy elbow KO. No fighter has come close to matching Silva’s UFC winning streak and he’s now held the middleweight belt for almost exactly five years.

9

At Strikeforce: Barnett vs Kharitonov, Daniel Cormier reached the finals of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix after destroying Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva inside one round with smart boxing. Cormier, a former Olympic wrestler, has now won all nine of his pro bouts.

0

Bellator featherweights Pat Curran and Marlon Sandro had never been stopped heading into their featherweight tournament title fight at Bellator 48. Curran was 15-4 with four decision losses while Sandro was 19-2 with two decision losses. It was Sandro’s streak that ended when Curran landed a monstrous head kick to end it at 4:00 of the second round.

550

Cormier meets Josh Barnett in the final, who side-choked his way into the last two over Sergei Kharitonov. Barnett’s current winning streak is now at eight fights and started 550 days before Daniel Cormier made his professional debut. Barnett’s debut came almost 13 years before Cormier’s. During that stretch Cormier was busy piling up a bunch of gold medals as an amateur wrestler.

60 minutes

Curran has spent just over 60 minutes in Bellator tournaments. The one hour (and 50 seconds) of fighting has translated into six wins and a lightweight tournament title and a featherweight tournament title. Pat’s cousin, UFC vet Jeff Curran, said: “It’s crazy. We’re not even at the fourth-year anniversary of him training!”

The Highs and Lows of VITOR BELFORT

Likely a future UFC Hall of Famer, 34-year-old Vitor Belfort has encountered a disproportionate quantity of MMA legends, past and present, and beaten many of them. Outings against men like Alistair Overeem, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz are matched alongside wins over Wanderlei Silva, Randy Couture and Rich Franklin on the Brazilian’s record. From his debut as a bright-eyed 19-year-old in 1996 to the present day, Belfort’s fast finishes and faster hands found the former UFC 205lb champ favor with fans and helped secure his legacy as one of the sport’s all-time greats.

February 1997

After making a victorious debut in Hawaii four months earlier, Belfort wins the UFC 12 heavyweight tournament overwhelming Tra Telligman and battering belly-heavy Scott Ferrozzo in a total of two minutes.

October 1997

Undefeated at 4-0, Vitor tackles future legend Randy Couture. Suffering from a stomach upset, Belfort is TKO’d after eight minutes 

of action.

1998

Goes head to head with fellow up-and-coming Brazilian Wanderlei Silva in a clamorous Sao Paulo arena. Belfort ends the much-anticipated UFC: Ultimate Brazil bout early with a rifled super-speed combo at 44 seconds of the first.

1999

Departs the ailing UFC for Japan where he takes on Kazushi Sakuraba at Pride 5. Belfort loses a decision to the soon-to-be Japanese hero.

2002

Belfort returns to the UFC and loses a hard-fought three-round decision to Chuck Liddell at UFC 37.5, after notching four straight wins in Pride.

2004

Challenges for Randy Couture’s UFC light heavyweight belt at UFC 49, mere weeks after his sister is kidnapped without trace. Belfort wins the title due to an abrasion on Couture’s eye caused by Belfort’s glove at 49 seconds of the first round. He drops the title in his first defense, a rematch with Couture at UFC 49.

2005

Goes 1-2 for the year, suffering consecutive losses to Tito Ortiz (decision, UFC 51) and Alistair Overeem (guillotine, Pride Total Elimination 2005). Belfort picks up a knockout win over Anthony Rea in London at Cage Rage 14.

2006

Again loses to Alistair Overeem, this time by decision at Strikeforce: Revenge. Belfort picks up a 36-second knockout victory before losing a decision to Dan Henderson at Pride 32 in Las Vegas. Belfort tests positive for steroids after the bout. 

2007

The start of a five-fight win streak coincides with the reveal of information about the 2004 disappearance of his sister. Wins the Cage Rage light heavyweight belt in from James Zikic in September. 

2009

Knocks out Matt Lindland, who worryingly then goes into a seizure, at Affliction: Day of Reckoning, before returning again to the UFC, KO’ing Rich Franklin in a 195lb catchweight bout at UFC 103.

February 2011

Returns from a long, injury-induced lay-off to challenge Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight belt. Is knocked out by Silva’s showreel, ‘Knockout of the Year’-candidate front kick at 3:25 of the first round.

August 2011

Rebounds with a ‘Knockout of the Night’ over iron-headed Japanese-Korean judoka Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133.