Vitor Belfort's contract to PRIDE has not been renewed!

[Hookah Smokin Caterpillar]

Dodging people?! What the hell are you guys smoking? You guys are acting like Pride has a new show everyday and everyday Silva [Who for the exception of the 'net, no one has mentioned him fighting Sak], Vitor [who he beat], and Rickson and Frank who are both dodging Sak, so get out of here. One easy fight is ok considering Sak's opponents have been:

Vernon White
Carlos Newton
Allan Goes
Vitor Belfort
Ebenezer Braga
Anthony Macias
Royler Gracie
Guy Mezger
Royce Gracie
Igor Vovchanchin
Renzo Gracie

Damn, all this and in only 2 years! He's beaten almost all those guys and in Allan Goes case he wants a rematch with him because he felt he lost. Sak isn't dodging ANYONE for the exception of big bad Vitor Belfort who everytime someone says he's finally back or at the top of his game he loses and he loses big...

I could care less if I saw Vitor fight again if he's going to be a GnPer. There are tons of better fighters in Pride right now but everyone is making a big deal about Vitor. Also, the works don't matter either because they're usually fights no one cares to see anyway. Vov vs. Takada? Satake vs. Ogawa? Anyone care about fights like that?

[YeLLa-TiGeR]

In the next PRIDE I can see a future Silva VS Sakuraba in Dec. I think its too soon to sign someone like Shamrock. They are probably still talking contracts for a BIGGER fight in the next 2-3 months.

[fil]

From what I hear Pride usualy signs fighters to 3 fight contracts so expect Vitor to get another chance to show his stuff before DSE/Pride makes a decision on whether they keep him or not.

Note Shanon Ritch has a two fight contract with Pride. How the hell was he able to get a match with Sakuraba when he has only fought in some very small MMA shows? Check out his interview at http://www.pridefc.com


[Edited by fil on 10-17-2000 at 07:51 PM]

[keithws]

vitor couldn't even make the Brazilian olympic boxing team, yet he's a threat lol. Brazilian boxing is like Jamaican bobsledding! Since I'm half portuguese, I might contemplate trying out for their boxing team 2004 :}.

Listen people, I can only hope Pride's ingenious plan of feeding helpless BJJ fighters to Sak is done. The American public has had enough of the facade. Yet, some of you fellas still thing V is a threat despite his and the brazilian fighter's history against Japanese. Vitor poses no threat to Sak and in no way is Pride protecting their golden boy from the biggest choke artist in NHB.

Pride is protecting Sak from the Americans, plain and simple. When's the last time a BJJ fighter won a relevant fight or tourney? On the other hand, Americans have gobbled up every title on the planet.

Quit crying about V or about Rickson, or any other BJJ fighter. It's true American hero's like the dang, impressive Frank Shamrock who are getting the shaft in Pride's middle weight division!

later on amigos........

[EJ]

KEITH:


Hey... shouldn't you be in Phoenix????

KICK ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ronin]

Dang

Frank Shamrock IS dang impressive!

He was especially so during the French Revolution.

[Beatle]

Lay off the crack pipe Hawk...

Originally posted by Hawk
Ground Control,
Although I don't think Big Daddy is quite as bad as you think he is, I feel your post hits the nail on the head. Vitor is a real threat to Sak. Obviously Pride and Colloseum
are close to getting Rickson-Sak put together or Sak wouldn't be fighting Shannon Rich. Most of Sak's fights could have gone against him and most have been controversial.Vitor very well may have pushed to hard for another shot at Sak.
Hawk

Vitor a threat to Sak - ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Hawk's in a world of his own. And that world is known as "1993".

[Cooter]

Beatle,
Hawk's a big boy and can defend himself, but it should be obvious to even the most inexperienced MMA fan that Vitor has a legitimate chance to beat Sakuraba. If Hawk's in his own world, I can only guess where you are.

[Beatle]

Originally posted by Cooter
Beatle,
Hawk's a big boy and can defend himself, but it should be obvious to even the most inexperienced MMA fan that Vitor has a legitimate chance to beat Sakuraba. If Hawk's in his own world, I can only guess where you are.

There's a world of difference between "a legitimate chance" and "a serious threat". Vitor has a puncher's chance, that's about it; his grappling ability falls way short of what is needed to beat Sak. Also, his abuse of steroids, makes his physical condition volatile.

One more thing. Hawk has shown he is out of touch with reality, he still claims that Sak tapped-out against Royce. When pressed on the details he gets sufficiently ambiguous as to deflect the issue. Hawk is very biased, you're living in cloud-cookoo land if you expect an objective opinion from Hawk.

[Edited by Beatle on 10-18-2000 at 11:44 PM]

[Ronin]

Beatle:

G&P is effective against just about everyone. What makes you so sure Sak can fight effectively from his guard?

Vitor got embarrassed in the first fight, but bad luck was involved (broken hand). A rematch now would be very interesting.

[Beatle]

Originally posted by Ronin
Beatle:

G&P is effective against just about everyone. What makes you so sure Sak can fight effectively from his guard?

Vitor got embarrassed in the first fight, but bad luck was involved (broken hand). A rematch now would be very interesting.

Sure, a rematch would be interesting, but seriously, would you bet your hard earned $$$ on Vitor?

As for G&P, it depends. For it to work you have to get the other guy to the ground. I just don't see Vitor having the tools to take Sak down and keep him there.

[Ronin]

Beat:

Vitor would be okay standing as long as he didn't break his hand or gas again.

I do agree Sak would probably catch him with something, but Vitor isn't as big a joke as you were insinuating. He is extremely dangerous, just inconsistent.

[GROUND CONTROL]

I agree with Hawk and Ronin. Until we see Sak fight off his back no one will know how strong that piece of his game is. Put Sak in there against Dan Henderson, Frank Trigg, or a healthy Vitor and lets see.

Injury or not Sak whipped Vitor's ass so bad that he would be foolish to fight him again. Sak can only do worse this time.

The only one smoking crack around here is anyone who thinks Vitor has no chance.

[Ronin]

GC:

Yes, I agree, Henderson would be a terrible match-up for Sak, and Tito wouldn't be much better. I'd like to see Sak against a superior wrestler who could force him to fight in a particular range. Sak's boxing skills aren't particularly good, and his guard is a big ? .

Sak would be wise to "duck" Vitor, as he has already humbled him.

Y'know a Vitor/Silva rematch would rock the house, wouldn't it? I just don't see why Pride is dumping him after going 2-0 in his comeback, boring or not.

[Cooter]

Beatle,

I understand what you mean, although the difference between "a legitimate chance" and "a serious threat" is probably just semantic. I suppose I actually am going a step further than saying this would be competitive (unlike the upcoming Saku-Ritch mismatch), I honestly think that there are 2 middleweights with a better than 50-50 shot against Saku--Ortiz...and Belfort.

Pound-for-pound Sak is still better than either one of these guys IMO, but they are both substantially bigger. Especially in Belfort's case, I see Saku getting the worse of it on his feet and being unable to get the fight to the ground. Belfort's ground skill is still a question mark, but given his training partners and natural athleticism, I'd have to think that he could at least survive long enough to get back to his feet if it ever did go to the ground. Saku certainly was nowhere close to submitting him in their first fight.

Yes, I would bet my hard-earned $$$ on Vitor