PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix 2005: Possibly the Best 16-Man Field Ever Assembled
Vitor Belfort vs. Alistair Overeem
Apr 20, 2005
BELFORT: Carlson Gracie Sr. jiu-jitsu black belt Vitor Belfort is 12-5 in MMA. The
“Phenom” is a four-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion and took
third place in the 2001 Abu Dhabi Submission Fighting World
Championships.
He had been training with Leo Vieira at Master Jiu-Jitsu, members of the Brazil Fight Club, and briefly rejoined the Brazilian Top Team (Mario Sperry, Murilo Bustamante, Rodrigo Nogueira and others) but rumors continue the swirl that he will join Chute Boxe, the Gracie Barra Combat Team or possibly remain on his own with manager Jose Guimaraes. He will be making his 6th appearance (4-1) in the ring of the PFC.
Belfort studied judo as a youth and began training jiu-jitsu at 13.
He was a champion by 16 and went on to train with Carlson Gracie
Sr. Vitor began fighting MMA at Superbrawl 2 and knocked out UFC
veteran John Hess in just 12 seconds. Vitor won the UFC 12
Heavyweight Tournament defeating Tra Telligman and Scott Ferrozzo and then beat
David Abbott in the
super-fight in UFC 13.
Three months into his MMA career he was being touted as the next great thing and destined to be a legend in the sport. At UFC 17, Belfort took an express elevator to reality when he was beaten down by wrestler Randy Couture. Vitor was able to come back and defeat Joe Charles at UFC Japan in a bizarre grappling match and then set up his highlight reel for the rest of his career, knocking out Wanderlei Silva at the UFC Brazil show.
Belfort “beat” Randy Couture for the title in 2004 by opening a cut over his eye with his glove, but their paths would cross again. In their third bout, Couture schooled Belfort and a bloody Vitor was forced to withdraw from the bout at the doctor’s insistence and lose his title. In February of this year, Belfort finally faced Tito Ortiz after two previous meetings were shelved due to injury. The bout went the distance and Ortiz took a very questionable decision.
OVEREEM: Dutch kickboxer Alistair Overeem carries a 19-5 record in MMA. The “Demolition Man” trains in RINGS Holland with Dennis Raven, Peter Hoopman, Andrew Gijs Houtveen and the rest of the Tatsujin Dojo. Alistair represents Team Golden Glory along with fighters Semmy Schilt, Gilbert Yvel and his brother Valentijn Overeem. He will be making his 7th appearance (4-2) in the PFC ring.
Alistair started competing in wrestling at 16, and also carries a 7-1-1 record in kickboxing. He began fighting MMA in the It’s Showtime promotion in Holland where he faced RINGS veteran Ricardo Fyeet. There he vanquished Fyeet in the first round with a rear-naked choke. Overeem entered the 1999 RINGS King of Kings tournament and battled Russian Top Team member Iouri Kotchkine for the first time (they met again in RINGS Russia). Kotchkine was able to control him on the feet with strikes and on the ground with wrestling to take a decisive decision victory.
Alistair bounced back and forth from the RINGS Holland event and the 2 Hot 2 Handle shows and the original RINGS promotion in Japan. Overeem fought Bobby Hoffman in the RINGS Millennium Combine 2 show but with just 23 seconds left in the round, Hoffman threw a heavy overhand right, knocking him out. He continued to jet back and forth, scoring wins in both promotions including a victory over MFC veteran and Red Devil Roman Zentosov by keylock. Alistair competed in the K-1 Lumber Jack Returns show in 2001, losing by TKO to Errol Parris in a kickboxing bout and made PRIDE debut at PRIDE: The Best 2 against Yusuke Imamura, stopping him in under a minute.
Overeem won a four-man tournament at the 2H2H 5 and choked out UFC veteran Aaron Brink at 2H2H 6. In his next trip to Japan, Alistair took on highly touted Russian striker (13-0 as a pro at the time) Bazigit Atajev at PRIDE 24. Alistair struck with “Volk” Atajev and caught him with a knee to the body that stopped the bout just prior to the second round bell. Alistair clobbered “Batman” Mike Bencic at PRIDE 26 to get into the Total Elimination show, but was knocked out by current UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell in the first round. Overeem scored a win at Antoni Inoki’s New Year’s Eve 2003 show and went back to Holland to choke out PRIDE Bushido veteran and Golden Glory teammate Rodney Faverus. At PRIDE 28 he cut Hiromitsu Kanehara late in the second round for the win but he lost a decision to Rogerio Nogueria in February’s Fists of Fire show at PRIDE 29.
MY PICK: This could be a true highlight of the opening round. I’m going with Overeem in an upset. I see a lot of talk about Belfort advancing to face Sakuraba and possibly Silva, but he has to get past Overeem first. Both fighters have only competed three times in the past two years with Overeem having the better record. We could really see how much Muay Thai Vitor has trained because he will see flying knees and elbows from Alistair. Overeem has improved on the ground (qualifying for Abu Dhabi) and is also huge at six-foot-five, so Belfort will have a distinct reach disadvantage. I feel it will be Overeem by TKO from knees in the first round.
He had been training with Leo Vieira at Master Jiu-Jitsu, members of the Brazil Fight Club, and briefly rejoined the Brazilian Top Team (Mario Sperry, Murilo Bustamante, Rodrigo Nogueira and others) but rumors continue the swirl that he will join Chute Boxe, the Gracie Barra Combat Team or possibly remain on his own with manager Jose Guimaraes. He will be making his 6th appearance (4-1) in the ring of the PFC.
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Three months into his MMA career he was being touted as the next great thing and destined to be a legend in the sport. At UFC 17, Belfort took an express elevator to reality when he was beaten down by wrestler Randy Couture. Vitor was able to come back and defeat Joe Charles at UFC Japan in a bizarre grappling match and then set up his highlight reel for the rest of his career, knocking out Wanderlei Silva at the UFC Brazil show.
A move to PRIDE saw Belfort lose by decision to Kazushi Sakuraba but he
recovered and rattled off decision wins over Gilbert Yvel, Daijiro Matsui and Heath Herring
and even choked out TUF competitor Bobby Southworth along the way.
Vitor returned to the UFC in bout to meet then light heavyweight
title holder Tito Ortiz. He lost a decision to kickboxer and
current divisional champion Chuck Liddell but came back a year
later to slice open kickboxer Marvin Eastman with a vicious
knee to the head.
Belfort “beat” Randy Couture for the title in 2004 by opening a cut over his eye with his glove, but their paths would cross again. In their third bout, Couture schooled Belfort and a bloody Vitor was forced to withdraw from the bout at the doctor’s insistence and lose his title. In February of this year, Belfort finally faced Tito Ortiz after two previous meetings were shelved due to injury. The bout went the distance and Ortiz took a very questionable decision.
OVEREEM: Dutch kickboxer Alistair Overeem carries a 19-5 record in MMA. The “Demolition Man” trains in RINGS Holland with Dennis Raven, Peter Hoopman, Andrew Gijs Houtveen and the rest of the Tatsujin Dojo. Alistair represents Team Golden Glory along with fighters Semmy Schilt, Gilbert Yvel and his brother Valentijn Overeem. He will be making his 7th appearance (4-2) in the PFC ring.
Alistair started competing in wrestling at 16, and also carries a 7-1-1 record in kickboxing. He began fighting MMA in the It’s Showtime promotion in Holland where he faced RINGS veteran Ricardo Fyeet. There he vanquished Fyeet in the first round with a rear-naked choke. Overeem entered the 1999 RINGS King of Kings tournament and battled Russian Top Team member Iouri Kotchkine for the first time (they met again in RINGS Russia). Kotchkine was able to control him on the feet with strikes and on the ground with wrestling to take a decisive decision victory.
Alistair bounced back and forth from the RINGS Holland event and the 2 Hot 2 Handle shows and the original RINGS promotion in Japan. Overeem fought Bobby Hoffman in the RINGS Millennium Combine 2 show but with just 23 seconds left in the round, Hoffman threw a heavy overhand right, knocking him out. He continued to jet back and forth, scoring wins in both promotions including a victory over MFC veteran and Red Devil Roman Zentosov by keylock. Alistair competed in the K-1 Lumber Jack Returns show in 2001, losing by TKO to Errol Parris in a kickboxing bout and made PRIDE debut at PRIDE: The Best 2 against Yusuke Imamura, stopping him in under a minute.
Overeem won a four-man tournament at the 2H2H 5 and choked out UFC veteran Aaron Brink at 2H2H 6. In his next trip to Japan, Alistair took on highly touted Russian striker (13-0 as a pro at the time) Bazigit Atajev at PRIDE 24. Alistair struck with “Volk” Atajev and caught him with a knee to the body that stopped the bout just prior to the second round bell. Alistair clobbered “Batman” Mike Bencic at PRIDE 26 to get into the Total Elimination show, but was knocked out by current UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell in the first round. Overeem scored a win at Antoni Inoki’s New Year’s Eve 2003 show and went back to Holland to choke out PRIDE Bushido veteran and Golden Glory teammate Rodney Faverus. At PRIDE 28 he cut Hiromitsu Kanehara late in the second round for the win but he lost a decision to Rogerio Nogueria in February’s Fists of Fire show at PRIDE 29.
MY PICK: This could be a true highlight of the opening round. I’m going with Overeem in an upset. I see a lot of talk about Belfort advancing to face Sakuraba and possibly Silva, but he has to get past Overeem first. Both fighters have only competed three times in the past two years with Overeem having the better record. We could really see how much Muay Thai Vitor has trained because he will see flying knees and elbows from Alistair. Overeem has improved on the ground (qualifying for Abu Dhabi) and is also huge at six-foot-five, so Belfort will have a distinct reach disadvantage. I feel it will be Overeem by TKO from knees in the first round.
