Morning Matchmaking: Vitor Belfort Fights For Title Shot (Again) Versus Yushin Okami

Getting hurt in the UFC can be a real bitch.

Last September, Vitor Belfort (19-8) defeated UFC legend Rich Franklin and earned himself the right to face Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title. Finally, Anderson was going to face a striker who had a chance while standing with him.

Well, one shoulder injury, an embarrassing performance by Silva, and one gangster from Oregon later, and Belfort’s title shot has gone bye-bye. Instead, he will take on Yushin Okami (25-5) who had been might impressive in his last few fights. Belfort confirmed the fight for UFC 122 in Germany on his Twitter yesterday:

“Guys, the fight is on to November 13 in Germany. It’ll be against tough Okami. Let’s go.”

While Belfort sounds game, he is right about this being an awful tough fight for him. Belfort is a striker. His fast hands and powerful boxing will provide problems for anyone he steps into the cage with. If there was a game plan to beat Belfort, it would have to be putting him on his back. Okami, who despite being Japanese, is a very strong wrestler, can do just that.

In addition to the strong wrestling that Okami has always had on his side, he has recently rounded out his game as seen in his win over Lucio Linhares. After that, he went a split decision over Mark Munoz where he used his wrestling to defeat the hot prospect from Team Black House.

This fight is not an easy one to pick. Personally, if I had to choose, I would take Belfort’s hands to defeat Okami. I think that people are starting to underrate Belfort because we haven’t seen him in a while.

That being said, If I was a betting man, I would not touch this fight. Instead, I’d choose to sit back and enjoy it without putting any cash on the line.

Original Story: http://www.3rdstringsafety.com/2010/0...