Belfort has a chance if he can catch Silva with something. That will give him a chance to swarm and take Anderson out - but if he follows Silva - Anderson will pick him off with combinations and move away from him all night long. It's a really intriguing fight.
If Belford doesn't **** himself before the fight and withdraw than he'll be very timid in the fight. Silva picks him apart.
I don't give Vitor a very good chance at all. Silva has a great chin and Vitor's handspeed and stand up ability is way overrated at 185. I don't think Vitor has the ground game or endurance to bother Silva over 5 rounds either. I see Silva winning by stoppage before the fourth round.
Belfort is about as live an opponent as Silva can get. He is fast and powerful. Should he ever fully mix his boxing with his bjj then he's a risky risky guy. One punch and it can be lights out. Silva is going from an elite wrestler to an elite striker. Tough going.
I don't think Belfort is anywhere close to being an elite striker. He has fast hands and good power but his overall striking game isn't great. Watch him get outclassed and rocked on his feet by middleweight James Zikic who has a similar style to Silva: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kUxYBpfBQ4[/ame] I don't think Belfort's ground game is strong enough to save him against Silva like it did against Zikic either.
Belfort has the better hands than Silva - whether or not he can use this to his advantage remains to be seen. If I was a betting man I would still have to go with Silva because he's more well rounded.
I thought someone would pick up on this. Elite strikers still have tough days and sometimes against lesser fighters. I think Belforts poor performances are often mental. Look at his fight with chuck, he caves mentally. Also, Belfort is a middleweight and in my opinion always has been. Even at middleweight, he is there because he carries so much muscle. Zikic is a big man who I think has fought as high as heavyweight. He's mixed it with and beaten guys like Werdum, Cyborg and Saki. Plus his background is striking and in addition to MMA he has 5 boxing fights.
Will Vitor be aggressive and allow Silva to counter? I honestly can see him chasing Silva down without taking punishment and his footwork isnt good enough to move in and out. And if he does hopefully he wont wilt like he has in the past
Belforts going to break. Belfort's not outboxing, outstrking or cracking Andersons Iron chin either. Belfort has more power in his Hand's but he's not going to stop Anderson, no way. Anderson has better hands than Belfort anyway imo and I've always been more impressed with Anderson's overal boxing skills. Anderson would beat him in a straight up boxing match. His Muay Thai is on another level as well and Anderson has more heart and is tougher. There's nothing Vitor does better than Anderson really. Some people seem to think that Belfort could do a Wandy on him but he has no chance of catching Anderson and hurting him and finishing him like that. Then after the first round is over Belfort will just break down mentally.
