Anthony Johnson will be a pretty big MW also. The dude is 6'2" with a very broad frame. Something tells me he will be stronger at 185. He's been killing himself to get to 170 and missed weight at least twice. I read that he had to cut 50 pounds or so for the Hardy fight. To me this is a simple matter of how much damage Vitor can inflict before Johnson smothers him on the ground. Vitor's been stymied by wrestlers before so anything is possible in this one. Personally I think Johnson is rangy enough to avoid damage standing and will finish Vitor on the ground.
Yeah he had a very impressive KO over the very tough Akiyama. At the very least, Vitor still has some of the best power in MMA.
Vitor is so much the better fighter. But, don't let the fact he cut weight to 170 fool anyone. I have stood next to Johnson. The dude is crazy big, even at 185. He looks like he should be in the NFL, no shit.
I would like to remind everyone that Vitor was never good. Even 10 years ago, when he was good... he wasn't good.
Right, thanks for coming out. Wins over Wanderlei Silva, Gilbert Yvel, Heath Herring, Tra Telligman, Liddell, Couture, Terry Martin, Matt Lindland, Rich Franklin, and Akiyama. Sounds good to me. SD, if you're gonna troll. Come up with something intelligent to say, would ya?
Every fighter no matter how good they are will have their haters who will come through and make a semi decent argument about why said fighter sucks.
Also, I had no idea he beat Liddell. And that Couture win was about as bogus as it gets. Guy's a front runner.
Oddly, I'm with SD on this one. First, Belfort never beat Liddell. Second, he only won 1 of 3 against Couture with the lone win coming via a freaking cut from Belfort's glove. Hardly a meaningful win. Belfort has among the best power in MMA history but he has always been terribly overrated.
Went off my memory with regards to Liddell. Still wins are wins, and the others were. At least you and Trp have something to agree about today.
Well, to be perfectly honest, Vitor has always been a tough one for me. You watch the guy from the start of his career and he just looks like this amazing talent. He has power in his hands; he is an accomplished grappler with black belts in BJJ and Judo; and the dude just looks like a badass. The problem is that he just didn't win in his big fights. Honestly, after catching everyone's attention with the destruction of Wanderlai, Vitor really missed more than he hit in terms of resume building wins. He lost 2 of 3 to Couture. He lost to Liddell. He lost to Overeem twice. He lost to Ortiz. He lost to Henderson. He lost to Silva. Liddell, Ortiz, Couture and Henderson were the big names at 205 and Vitor didn't suceed against them. He had a few opportunities to dominate the UFC's Light Heavyweight division during the most focal era of the division. But he couldn't beat any of the top guys. He looked good in beating Franklin before the recent title fight with Silva and he looked good in his last fight in blasting out Akiyama. Unfortunately neither of the wins was as important as how bad he looked against Silva. And to me, that's kind of the story of his career. He looks like a "Phenom" against lesser fighters but somewhat ordinary against the best.
