Vítor Vieira Belfort is a Brazilian professional boxer and retired mixed martial artist who competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought in the Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight and Middleweight divisions. He is the UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament Champion, as well as the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and Cage Rage World Light Heavyweight Champion. Known for his explosive knockout power, Belfort is tied for fifth for the most finishes in UFC history with 14. Belfort also competed for MMA promotions Pride FC, Strikeforce, Affliction, and Cage Rage.
Belfort in 2020
Belfort in 2010
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. The first documented use of the term mixed martial arts was in a review of UFC 1 by television critic Howard Rosenberg in 1993.
Junior dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin, main event of UFC 131 in Vancouver in 2011
A Chinese martial artist preparing to throw his opponent during a lei tai contest in Ancient China.
The Pancrastinae: A statue portraying the pancratium, an event which took place in the Roman Colosseum. Even as late as the Early Middle Ages, statues were put up in Rome and other cities to honor remarkable pankratiasts. This statue, now part of the Uffizi collection, is a Roman copy of a lost Greek original, circa 3rd century BC.
Bruce Lee popularized the concept of mixed martial arts via his hybrid philosophy of Jeet Kune Do during the late 1960s to early 1970s.
