Sherdog’s Top 10: Scariest Finishers
No. 4
Vitor Belfort has instilled fear for the better part of two
decades. | Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
4. Vitor Belfort
For 18 years now, fans of mixed martial arts have been able to count on “The Phenom” to deliver scary knockouts with the regularity of death and taxes. While he is now 37 years old, hormone replacement seems to have granted the old lion a new lease on life.
MMA had seen devastating knockouts prior to Belfort’s debut in the form of fighters like David Abbott, but “The Phenom” represented something entirely new in terms of speed, power and killer instinct. Belfort was MMA’s first true physical talent, and he showed what was possible when a martial artist blended serious, next-level athleticism with real technique.
Belfort’s extensive record of terrifying finishes is long and illustrious, but what unites all of them is his lightning-fast straight left and the way it sets up every other piece of his game. Opponents who fear the cross involuntarily move their hands or their head to stay away from it, and lo and behold, they duck straight into the high kick just as poor Michael Bisping did. Trying to parry that left is what left Luke Rockhold’s chin open for the spinning wheel kick. Alternatively, Belfort can just clock you with the left hand and call it good, as he did to Rich Franklin at UFC 103 in September 2009 and Matt Lindland under the Affliction banner eight months earlier.
What clinches Belfort as an all-time scary finisher is his off-the-charts killer instinct. Once his opponent is hurt, Belfort jumps on him with a profusion of vicious punches, and he does not seem to care whether they hit a legal spot or the blatantly illegal back of the head. The Brazilian’s willingness to ignore the rules in order to put down his opponent for good makes him even more terrifying than his prodigious physical gifts and slick technical skill already suggest.
Number 3 » Over the course of his long and decorated career, he has evolved from a young and athletic Brazilian jiu-jitsu prodigy to a well-rounded old war horse with more than a few tricks up his sleeve. The constant, however, has been his ability and willingness to finish his opponents in violent and damaging ways.
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