Known for his heavy hands, Vitor Belfort proved Saturday that his feet are also worthy of fear. The UFC veteran destroyed newcomer, and former Strikeforce Champion, Luke Rockhold with a brutal spinning heel kick in the first round of Saturday’s UFC on FX 8.
Sure to find itself on UFC highlight reels, the kick–and subsequent ground-and-pound–put Rockhold out and put the Brazilian crowd on its feet.
Whether Belfort’s win earns him another shot at Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva remains to be seen, but if an impressive victory were the prerequisite for a crack at Silva, there is nothing more Belfort could have done.
Interestingly, Belfort himself did not push for a title shot following his victory, noting that his job is only to accept the fights put in front of him.
Earlier in the show, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, whose last defeat came at the hands of Rockhold, put on a clinic against late replacement Chris Camozzi. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace put Camozzi to sleep with a picture-perfect arm triangle.
Full results of UFC on FX 8 follow:
Vitor Belfort b. Luke Rockhold via KO (kick and punches) at 2:32 of Round One
Jacare b. Chris Camozzi via technical submission (arm triangle) at 3:37 of Round One
Rafael dos Anjos b. Evan Dunham via UD (29-28×3)
Rafael Natal b. Joao Zeferino via UD (30-27, 29-28×2)
Nik Lentz b. Hacran Dias via UD (29-28×2, 28-27)
Francisco Trinaldo b. Mike Rio via submission (arm triangle) at 3:08 of Round One
Gleison Tibau b. John Cholish via submission (guillotine) at 2:34 of Round Two
Paulo Thiago b. Michel Prazeres via UD (29-28×3)
Yuri Alcantara b. Iliarde Santos via TKO (punches) at 2:31 of Round One
Fabio Maldonado b. Roger Hollett via UD (29-27×2, 29-28,)
John Lineker b. Azamat Gashimov via TKO (punches) at 1:07 of Round Two
Jussier Formiga b. Chris Cariaso via UD (29-28×3)
Lucas Martins b. Jeremy Larsen via KO (punch) at :13 of Round Three
