Originally Posted by
Chairib
Have you even watched his most recent fights? It's completely obvious that not only is his speed fine but the power is there as well. This fight with Franklin and the previous fight with Matt Lindland are prefect examples of his striking power. Vitor's issues has always been with angles and footwork.
His striking is most effective when he is either:
1) Striking an opponent who is on the ground. - This Franklin fight and the previous with Lindland were text book Vitor Belfort fights in that regard. He is very good at delivering shots to a downed opponent. Not only are his strikes powerful and fast but he's very accurate with his ground and pound. Not much difference between these two fights and his earliest fights against Tank Abbott or John Hess.
2) Up against an opponent who doesn't use angles, movement, or only move either straight back or forward. His striking has developed since the earlier days where the punches were delivered in like an old school Kung Fu or Karate straight blast. Striking wise his major issues has always been footwork and angles.
If he's got a guy like Wanderlei who wades straight in, Franklin or Lindland who both make the mistake of standing right in front of him Vitor's striking becomes a factor. His speed is what stopped those guys. He uses his speed to overwhelm them with a flurry of punches. It's no different than his fight with Tre Tellingman. But when he's fighting guys who circle away and who can strike and move, he's got a significantly harder time. His first fight with Couture is a great example of this, as Randy worked the clinch and circled right. Vitor couldn't even get his offense started.