Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva will take place once again under another combat sports ruleset this Autumn. The expectation is that September 27th in Sao Paulo, Brazil will serve as the date and location for this boxing contest with the two partisan pugilists throwing down in the main event of Spaten Fight Night 2. The inaugural Spaten Fight Night was headlined by another boxing showdown among former MMA rivals as Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva fought to a draw in an exhibition last June.
Multiple sources close to the situation first confirmed the news of this sweet science showdown to MMA Fighting. This isn’t even the first time that a sequel clash has been planned for the two with Silva and Belfort also having a scheduled MMA bout in 2012 fall by the wayside. This came after the two served as opposing coaches on a season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil with Belfort withdrawing from the Belo Horizonte card after suffering a hand break where he was then replaced by Rich Franklin.
While this will be Silva’s first foray into a fight under Queensberry Rules, Belfort has a few performances in the big gloves under his belt. Throwdowns with former multi-time heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield and Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza within the sweet science decorate the record of ‘The Phenom’ who will continue in Q3 of 2025.
Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva: The First Chapter
Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva had their first fight in Sao Paulo as well in what ended up generating one of the most widely replayed highlights in UFC history. The two men stepped into the cage to do battle in October 1998 under mixed martial arts rules with Belfort blitzing Silva and halting him with a torrent of strikes less than 45 seconds into the contest.
So much has happened for both men since that outing with Belfort going on to fight under the Pride FC banner, collect the UFC light heavyweight title, and secure multiple title fights under the UFC banner after returning to the promotion following stints ion leagues like Strikeforce and Affliction to name but a couple. Silva also went on to have a decorated career in his own right with divisional and grand prix titles in the Pride middleweight division to his credit.
