Has Vitor gotten better?

Sisti

Since 2007 his only losses have been against Silva and Jones

His wins include four first round finishes against Lindland, Franklin, Akiyama, and Rumble...now a second round finish vs. Bisping. Since '07 he's 8-2, but he is even better than that record. His wins include extremely quick finishes of top guys and his losses are probably against the 2 best fighters in MMA history. I def am not surprised that he was able to beat bisping...and I think he'd EASILY be champ right now if the 2 contenders were ANYONE other than Silva and Jones

Furiousmat

I'm not sure I'd consider any of these top guys except Franklin.. but we all know Franklin is on the downside of his carreer now..

Bisping has never earn a win against a top contender. Rumble hasn't gotten a win against anyone whose name actually means something, and he while he was the bigger man when they fought he was completely depleted and dehydrated. Akiyama? isn't he 1-4 in the UFC including losses to Bisping and... Leben?

Who the hell is Lindland..

Yet I do think Vitor is a force. He convinced me with his performance against Jones, that he was still a threat to anyone.

That being said I do think he's improved his boxing. I had never seen him look as loose and comfortable as tonight.

bluesy

It's true. When you look at the numbers, his record alone isn't that impressive, but upon inspection the only people he has ever lost to are complete savages: Old school Sakuraba; Randy, Chuck, and Tito in their primes; Overeem; Hendo; Silva; Jones.

I don't think he'll be champ again, but I think he's presently better than the other guys in his range who've gotten more accolades over the years, like Shogun and Rampage. He should really push for some of those 205 dream fights, rather than call out Jones.

And, yea, isn't this the first time he has rocked an opponent with a head kick? Old lion still has it and then some.

Gobbo

bluesy said:

It's true. When you look at the numbers, his record alone isn't that impressive, but upon inspection the only people he has ever lost to are complete savages: Old school Sakuraba; Randy, Chuck, and Tito in their primes; Overeem; Hendo; Silva; Jones.

I don't think he'll be champ again, but I think he's presently better than the other guys in his range who've gotten more accolades over the years, like Shogun and Rampage. He should really push for some of those 205 dream fights, rather than call out Jones.

And, yea, isn't this the first time he has rocked an opponent with a head kick? Old lion still has it and then some.

During their career peak I think Shogun and Rampage rightfully got more recognition and were ranked higher, but I think now everyone (except Carnage) realizes that Shogun and Rampage best days were in Pride and they arn't going to return to old form.

TheMmaKnowItAll

Expect him to be caught for TRT , he looked way to ripped in my opinion for an older fighter

britishranger

Roids do that bruv

Pengu

Looked pretty shredded...TRT exemption?
But he did expand his skill set, never seen Vitor throw a spinning heel kick or attempt a flying knee.
So his not just relying on his hands

JDS_over_REEM

Pengu said:

Looked pretty shredded...TRT exemption?
But he did expand his skill set, never seen Vitor throw a spinning heel kick or attempt a flying knee.
So his not just relying on his hands

C'mon man, he was fighting Michael F****** Bisping.

FroZeN

Vitor did look pretty shredded, but he trains with Hashad and Overeem. Of course he was gonna be shredded.

hasopasha

he improved imo he is now trying flying knees and spinning kicks

he is trowing more kicks

Dark_Horse

Should the title read "Has Vitor gotten better PEDs?"

PunchBag

i believe vitor is better now than when he beat randy for the title

would love to see a rematch between shogun and belfort, or perhaps belfort vs mousasi hendo vs belfort would also be a great rematch

mmafan73

i believe in a rematch he can beat jones(maybe), and anderson 4sho

creep_bb

He has gotten better, yes. I would like to see him fight Anderson again, not Jones. It is possible he would give Silva a run for his money the 2nd time. Jones, not so much....

sobercuban

Pengu said:

Looked pretty shredded...TRT exemption?
But he did expand his skill set, never seen Vitor throw a spinning heel kick or attempt a flying knee.
So his not just relying on his hands

I'm surprised that wasn't made mention of during the broadcast ... I don't remember Vitor ever going for those kinds of kicks

i_run_this

Jones fight gave him more confidence

cromwell

he did come out a lot different than usual, in stead of trying to go for the kill every second of the fight and gas himself out he was patient and picked his shots, if this is the new way vitor decides to fight then i would say he has improved.

Qwerty1175

He looked to be in the best shape he has ever been in

EightLimbAssassin

Vitor vs Lombard would be a circle jerk of epicness for us fans. Okami? Screw Okami! Get that clown outta there! Give him a reality show with Chael!

Qwerty1175

Vitor would ko Lombard in 1 minute

wesleywells1

Vitor vs. Lombard would make more sense than Vitor vs. Jones 2. Don't get me wrong, I think he could take Jones if he would be more aggressive with his standup than he was the first time. I kept yelling at the tv, "Stop pulling guard and hit that mother!" A 4 fight winning streak (at MW) with wins over Akiyama, Rumble, Bisping, and Lombard and he would have a strong case for a title shot there. I'd rather see him fight Silva again than Jones. Hendo will take care of Bones. ;)

DoomPatrol

I was very pleased with those kicks, they were hard and accurate. The spinning kick looked awesome, fast and controlled. The distance was wrong, but hey, not many people can land that kick in a mma match.

CyberSlayer

I've wanted a Vitor vs Silva rematch for a while now & that win against Bisping was impressive for alot of the reasons ya'll have expressed above..He showed patience in his striking,he was pacing himself,& he was mixing his striking up,its making me want that rematch that much more..

Yesterdays_Hero

TRTor Belfort P4P #1

carnages41

Vitor has always been good

WalkLikeAWarrior707

I would say yes. Or he is mixing things up more with his kicks. He has been looking good lately

PunchBag

i think he needs fights were he dislikes his opponent makes him train harder probably why he would like to fight chael

MilesGunn

carnages41 said:

Vitor has always been good

This.
It was pretty clear that Anderson, Chael and Belfort were/are the top3 MWs.

Yesterdays_Hero

MilesGunn said:

carnages41 said:

Vitor has always been good

This.
It was pretty clear that Anderson, Chael and Belfort were/are the top3 MWs.

But if you look at Vitor's record there's nothing to say he's a top MW.

MilesGunn

Yesterdays_Hero said:

MilesGunn said:

carnages41 said:

Vitor has always been good

This.
It was pretty clear that Anderson, Chael and Belfort were/are the top3 MWs.

But if you look at Vitor's record there's nothing to say he's a top MW.

A lot of R1 KOs prove otherwise. Also his record is fine, his losses are from top LHWs who he'd beat now and a HW. If I remember correctly, his sister was kidnapped or found dead around that time period.

Yesterdays_Hero

MilesGunn said:

Yesterdays_Hero said:

MilesGunn said:

carnages41 said:

Vitor has always been good

This.
It was pretty clear that Anderson, Chael and Belfort were/are the top3 MWs.

But if you look at Vitor's record there's nothing to say he's a top MW.

A lot of R1 KOs prove otherwise. Also his record is fine, his losses are from top LHWs who he'd beat now and a HW. If I remember correctly, his sister was kidnapped or found dead around that time period.

Who has he beat at MW though? Akiyama is a legit bum and Rumble drained his body so hard and couldn't make weight. Bisping is his biggest MW win and he's just a gatekeeper that's been hyped because he's British.

I'd say Weidman is the #2 guy and Chael 3rd if he's still included