Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Best photos: Vitor Belfort knocked out Evander Holyfield on Saturday in Hollywood, Florida.
Editor’s note: This article was originally posted on MMAJunkie.com.
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Check out these photo highlights of Vitor Belfort’s first-round TKO win over Evander Holyfield in their Triller Fight Club main event at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.
Photos by Triller Fight Club, Associated Press and Getty Images.
Vitor Belfort knocked out Evander Holyfield in the first round Saturday in Hollywood, Florida.
Editor’s note: This article was originally posted on MMAJunkie.com.
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HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – As many expected, Vitor Belfort put away Evander Holyfield with ease.
The former UFC champion needed less than two minutes to dispatch the 58-year-old Holyfield in their heavyweight boxing bout Saturday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The official stoppage came at the 1:49 mark of the first round.
As soon as the bell rang, they touched gloves and the action immediately began. Holyfield pressured the Brazilian and landed a nice left hook. Soon after that, Belfort rocked Holyfield with a right hand and had him wobbled. Belfort pressured Holyfield and knocked him down. Holyfield quickly stood up, but was quickly put down again with a right hand.
Holyfield continued after his second knockdown to get greeted by a barrage of punches from Belfort. The referee immediately stopped the bout as Holyfield was clearly hurt.
IT IS ALL OVER! @vitorbelfort STOPS EVANDER IN THE FIRST!!!
Catch the replay!#TRILLERFIGHTCLUB LIVE RIGHT NOW ON #FITE!
[ #HolyfieldBelfort | https://t.co/jpCvXLI1j3 ] pic.twitter.com/IwQgJUqQBB
— FITE (@FiteTV) September 12, 2021
Holyfield took the fight on short notice, replacing Oscar De La Hoya, who was forced out of the bout with Belfort after getting hospitalized from COVID-19.
Holyfield hadn’t fought in a decade. The last time he competed was at age 48, when he defeated Brian Nielsen via TKO. The fourt-ime heavyweight champion is a little over a year away from his 60th birthday.
Holyfield disagreed with the stoppage of his fight:
“I think it was a bad call,” Holyfield said on the broadcast. “I don’t think the referee should’ve stopped the fight that quick.”
Meanwhile, Belfort, 44, returned to competition for the first time since his TKO loss to Lyoto Machida in May 2018 under MMA. Belfort has only competed once in professional boxing, having defeated Josemario Neves in 2006.
Belfort called out Jake Paul in his post-fight interview alongside Triller Fight Club CEO Ryan Kavanaugh. The original offer of $25 million for Paul to take the fight was upped to $30 million on the spot by Kavanaugh.
Vitor Belfort knocked out Evander Holyfield in the first round Saturday in Hollywood, Florida.
Editor’s note: This article was originally posted on MMAJunkie.com.
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HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – As many expected, Vitor Belfort put away Evander Holyfield with ease.
The former UFC champion needed less than two minutes to dispatch the 58-year-old Holyfield in their heavyweight boxing bout Saturday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The official stoppage came at the 1:49 mark of the first round.
As soon as the bell rang, they touched gloves and the action immediately began. Holyfield pressured the Brazilian and landed a nice left hook. Soon after that, Belfort rocked Holyfield with a right hand and had him wobbled. Belfort pressured Holyfield and knocked him down. Holyfield quickly stood up, but was quickly put down again with a right hand.
Holyfield continued after his second knockdown to get greeted by a barrage of punches from Belfort. The referee immediately stopped the bout as Holyfield was clearly hurt.
IT IS ALL OVER! @vitorbelfort STOPS EVANDER IN THE FIRST!!!
Catch the replay!#TRILLERFIGHTCLUB LIVE RIGHT NOW ON #FITE!
[ #HolyfieldBelfort | https://t.co/jpCvXLI1j3 ] pic.twitter.com/IwQgJUqQBB
— FITE (@FiteTV) September 12, 2021
Holyfield took the fight on short notice, replacing Oscar De La Hoya, who was forced out of the bout with Belfort after getting hospitalized from COVID-19.
Holyfield hadn’t fought in a decade. The last time he competed was at age 48, when he defeated Brian Nielsen via TKO. The fourt-ime heavyweight champion is a little over a year away from his 60th birthday.
Holyfield disagreed with the stoppage of his fight:
“I think it was a bad call,” Holyfield said on the broadcast. “I don’t think the referee should’ve stopped the fight that quick.”
Meanwhile, Belfort, 44, returned to competition for the first time since his TKO loss to Lyoto Machida in May 2018 under MMA. Belfort has only competed once in professional boxing, having defeated Josemario Neves in 2006.
Belfort called out Jake Paul in his post-fight interview alongside Triller Fight Club CEO Ryan Kavanaugh. The original offer of $25 million for Paul to take the fight was upped to $30 million on the spot by Kavanaugh.
Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort were victorious on a sham of a boxing card
Former U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated Vitor Belfort after his main event TKO of Evander Holyfield.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump took the opportunity to address the main event winner of Triller Fight Club Legends II on Saturday.
Shortly after former UFC light heavyweight champion [autotag]Vitor Belfort[/autotag] made quick work of boxing legend [autotag]Evander Holyfield[/autotag] in their main event fight, Trump, who was on secondary commentary duty for the event, spoke to the captive audience at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.
Along with Trump in the commentary booth was his son, Donald Trump Jr., former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos, and welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal.
“You are some fighter,” Trump said. “I have to tell you, you have a couple of friends between Jorge and Junior, and my son, my ‘junior,’ they said you’re going to do fantastically well…I said, ‘Well, but boxing’s not his thing.’ Junior said, ‘Yes it is, you just watch.'”
The former heavyweight champ proved the former president correct in his prediction, as Belfort made quick work of Holyfield by scoring a quick first-round TKO finish.
Before the fight in an interview that took place just seconds before he entered the ring, Belfort ended his remarks with Trump’s presidential campaign tagline, “Let’s make America great again!”
The former president appreciated Belfort’s message, as did most of the crowd in attendance who chanted Trump’s name throughout the evening. “You are a great patriot and we appreciate it,” Trump added when speaking to Belfort.
“Vitor, your stock was very high, but it’s even higher tonight because you beat somebody who is, I don’t know, I think probably one of the greatest of all time,” Trump continued. “There’s no question about Evander and we love Evander. I know Evander, and I’ve never seen that happen to Evander. I’ve been with Evander a long time and it’s just one of those things, you were really fantastic.”
Trump also briefly proposed the idea of creating a matchup between Masvidal or Dos Santos as Belfort’s next opponent inside the boxing ring, but it appears Triller would like to create a matchup between Belfort and Jake Paul instead.
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Vitor Belfort dispatches Evander Holyfield with ease at Saturday’s Triller Fight Club Legends II.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – As many expected, [autotag]Vitor Belfort[/autotag] put away [autotag]Evander Holyfield[/autotag] with ease.
The former UFC champion only needed less than two minutes to dispatch the 58-year-old Holyfield in the main event of their heavyweight boxing bout at Triller Fight Club Legends II. The official stoppage came at the 1:49 mark of round one. It was a TKO win for Belfort.
Triller Fight Club Legends II took place on Saturday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The main card streamed on pay-per-view.
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As soon as the bell rang, they touched gloves and the action immediately began. Holyfield pressured the Brazilian and landed a nice left hook. Soon after that, Belfort rocked Holyfield with a right hand and had him wobbled. Belfort pressured Holyfield and knocked him down. Holyfield quickly stood up, but was quickly put down again with a right hand.
Holyfield continued after his second knockdown to get greeted by a barrage of punches from Belfort. The referee immediately stopped the bout as Holyfield was clearly hurt.
IT IS ALL OVER! @vitorbelfort STOPS EVANDER IN THE FIRST!!!
Catch the replay!#TRILLERFIGHTCLUB LIVE RIGHT NOW ON #FITE!
[ #HolyfieldBelfort | https://t.co/jpCvXLI1j3 ] pic.twitter.com/IwQgJUqQBB
— FITE (@FiteTV) September 12, 2021
Holyfield took the fight on short notice, replacing Oscar De La Hoya who was forced out of the bout with Belfort after getting hospitalized from COVID-19.
Holyfield hadn’t fought in a decade. The last time he competed was at age 48 when he defeated Brian Nielsen via TKO. The former multiple-time boxing heavyweight champion is a little over a year away from his 60th birthday.
Holyfield disagreed with the stoppage of his fight:
“I think it was a bad call,” Holyfield said on the broadcast. “I don’t think the referee should’ve stopped the fight that quick.”
Meanwhile, Belfort, 44, returned to competition for the first time since his TKO loss to Lyoto Machida in May 2018 under MMA. Belfort has only competed once in professional boxing having defeated Josemario Neves in 2006.
Belfort called out Jake Paul in his post-fight interview alongside Triller Fight Club CEO Ryan Kavanaugh. The original offer of $25 million for Paul to take the fight was upped to $30 million on the spot by Kavanaugh during the in-ring interview.
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Check out the top Twitter reactions to Vitor Belfort’s quick TKO win over Evander Holyfield at Triller Fight Club.
[autotag]Vitor Belfort[/autotag]’s cross over into the boxing world was a success on Saturday when he defeated the legendary [autotag]Evander Holyfield[/autotag] in the Triller Fight Club main event.
Belfort, a former UFC champion, was supposed to fight Oscar De La Hoya on the card. COVID-19 prevented that fight, though, so Holyfield stepped in despite being 58 years old and having not fought in a decade. Belfort showed why there were concerns, earning a first-round TKO win at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.
Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Belfort’s win over Holyfield at Triller Fight Club.
Follow along with results and live updates from South Florida, where Evander Holyfield and Vitor Belfort headline a boxing card.
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – MMA Junkie is on the scene and reporting live from tonight’s Triller Fight Club boxing event at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Former UFC champions are featured in the two main attractions. The main event pits 58-year-old former boxing champion Evander Holyfield returning to the ring for the first time in 10 years to take on Vitor Belfort. And in the co-headliner, Anderson Silva meets Tito Ortiz.
The pay-per-view main card kicks off at 7 p.m. ET. Keep it locked here for results as they happen, as well as live behind-the-scenes updates.
Triller is considering what Evander Holyfield wants after the 58-year-old expressed concerns about the fight counting on his record.
Will the boxing match between [autotag]Evander Holyfield[/autotag] and [autotag]Vitor Belfort[/autotag] count as an official fight, or will it be relegated to exhibition status? There’s no certain answer.
The Florida Athletic Commission, which is overseeing Saturday night’s Triller Fight Club event in Hollywood, announced earlier this week that the Holyfield-Belfort headliner was approved as a fully regulated professional boxing match to be conducted under the Unified Rules of Boxing. However, there’s still a chance it will be an exhibition.
According to ESPN on Friday, Holyfield, who is 58 and competing for the first time in 10 years, is concerned about the fight counting toward his official record. Should Triller decide to make the fight an exhibition, the promotion has until before the bell rings to inform the commission.
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Triller co-founder Ryan Kavanaugh indicated that the promotion ultimately will honor Holyfield’s wish.
“If Holyfield doesn’t want this to go on his BoxRec (boxing’s official record keeper) due to his age, we’ll allow him to make the decision and still follow all the other rules,” Kavanaugh told ESPN. “… We’ve spoken to Holyfield and Vitor and the commission. No matter what, this will be scored as a pro fight, there will be a clear winner, and it will be treated with pro rules.”
Holyfield, a former heavyweight champion with a 44-10-2 record, accepted the fight last week after Oscar De La Hoya, Belfort’s original opponent, was forced to withdraw when he was hospitalized with COVID-19.
The event originally was set to take place at Staples Center in Los Angeles, but the California State Athletic Commission would not grant Holyfield a license, prompting the last-minute shift to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in South Florida.
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Check out the final faceoff between combat sports legends Evander Holyfield and Vitor Belfort before their Triller Fight Club boxing bout.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – [autotag]Evander Holyfield[/autotag] and [autotag]Vitor Belfort[/autotag] are ready to fight after weighing in.
The combat sports legends stepped on the scale Friday, with 58-year-old former boxing champion Holyfield coming in at 225.4, while 44-year-old former UFC champion Belfort weighed 206.2.
Afterward, Holyfield and Belfort took part in an intense faceoff, which you can watch in the video above.
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Triller Fight Club: Legends II takes place Saturday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. The pay-per-view event is co-headlined by a fight between former UFC champs Anderson Silva and Tito Ortiz.
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