Brazil reigned supreme at Triller Fight Club: Legends II as former UFC champions Vitor Belfort and Anderson Silva served up a pair of first-round finishes in Florida.
The main event of the evening saw Belfort, who was originally set to face Oscar De La Hoya, take on 58-year-old Evander Holyfield, and scored a mercifully quick stoppage victory over the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
Holyfield looked in remarkable shape for a man of his age, but his very sluggish open workout during fight week raised concerns over whether he should be allowed to compete against the hard-hitting Belfort, who was 14 years Holyfield’s junior.
Those worries proved well-founded as Holyfield could only manage a few pawing jabs before Belfort stepped in and connected with punches.
After a slip saw Holyfield touch down, then another moment where he fell through the ropes while avoiding a big Belfort shot, it seemed clear that “The Real Deal” was in big trouble, and a left hook from Belfort, followed by a stiff uppercut, sent the boxing legend down to the canvas.
Holyfield battled back to his feet and convinced the concerned referee that he was OK to continue, but Belfort swarmed him and hammered him with a succession of unanswered punches to score a first-round finish.
After his win, Belfort, backed up by Triller’s Ryan Kavanaugh, called out Jake Paul, with the organisers offering a $30 million winner-take-all fight purse.
The co-main event saw a pair of 46-year-old former UFC champions go head to head, but it quickly became clear that Anderson Silva was by far the sharper and better fighter than Tito Ortiz, as “The Spider” scored an impressive first-round knockout.
Ortiz pushed forward from the opening bell and tried to connect with a series of winging hooks. But Silva avoided Ortiz’s shots with consummate ease before backing into the corner and punishing “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” with some classic rope-a-dope action.
Silva stayed in the corner as Ortiz let fly with his punches, but the American was unable to connect a big shot to the Brazilian’s chin. Then, after ducking and weaving away from Ortiz’s punches, Silva struck with a thumping counter right hook to the chin that sent Ortiz into the ropes, clearly badly rocked.
Silva then followed up with a couple more punches to send Ortiz to the canvas, where he was unable to beat the 10 count.
