Is the old Vitor back? No, the new Vitor is here.
After a feeling out period where Vitor held his stance as if he was Lyoto Machida, it turned out it was only a matter of time.
There wasn’t much to the story except that the stories of Vitor’s evolution are not overstated. While a left hand grazed the back of Franklin’s head, his follow up was dogged enough to make it count with over committing.
Franklin crumbled face forward and could offer not resistance. Belfort followed up with punches on a Franklin on all fours before the referee was forced to stop the fight.
And now Anderson Silva has a contender. While this fight was at 195, the wins Vitor has put together cannot be contested. Vitor has stopped three UFC caliber opposition in a row and done so by finishing them all. While there is still a question of how he’ll do against someone the caliber of the greatest pound for pound fighter on the planet, Belfort has clearly put himself in a position to be a viable opponent worthy of the Anderson Silva challenge.
Referee Yves Lavigne stops the fight at 3:02 of the very first round. Huge, huge win for “The Phenom”.