"The Half-Guarded Truth"

By: Mike Coughlin

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"The Lesson of Vitor Belfort"

The fall from grace. It is almost quintessential to the hero's story: a man comes from nowhere, makes it big, lets success go to his head, falls hard, then rebuilds himself, this time wiser than before. A hero that falls a bit, dirtying up his knees, is all the more enjoyable. I think it's because we're a bit uncomfortable with someone that is too good. When our idols show a weakness, it humanizes them. A soft spot lets us know that everyone misses a punch now and then, that failure is OK. If the best of us fail, so can we. Weaknesses make them one of us.

Vitor Belfort has fallen. Long before Fedor and BJ Penn and Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva, there was Vitor Belfort. He was the original unstoppable fighter. Black belt jiu-jitsu with hand speed and accuracy that is still almost unmatched, Belfort was never going to lose. And for about 4 minutes he didn't - knocking out Tra Telligman and Tank Abbot amongst others during his first four fights. Then, he fell - for the first time - losing to Randy Couture.

Part of the story is that the fallen hero learns from his mistake, becoming a new man in the process. Belfort got up and took just 5 minutes to win his next two fights, including a legendary 44 second mugging of Wanderlei Silva. Then, he fought Kazushi Sakuraba and was humiliated by the diminutive Japanese fighter. The Brazilian wonder-kid literally flopped on his back over and over in an effort to avoid fighting. It wasn't that Sakuraba beat him physically so much that he destroyed him mentally. Once again, Belfort had fallen. He hadn't learned from his mistakes.

Belfort would get up, winning 6 of his next 7, with the only loss being a close decision to Chuck Liddell, a fight in which Belfort did not quit and did not falter, he was simply beaten by a better man. Along the way, he even managed to capture the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Granted, his win was due to a once-in-a-lifetime cut to the eyelid from the edge of a glove, but Belfort was the rightful champion of the world.

Then he fell again. This time, the fall would be harder than ever before. He re-matched Couture and was mentally broken in 3 rounds. He lost the fight, he lost his title and he lost the good-will he'd built. He followed that up by losing to Tito Ortiz. It was a typical Vitor loss: start strong, look good, almost finish your opponent, then quit in the latter part of the fight. He then returned to PRIDE and was promptly choked out by Alistair Overeem.

Belfort had to get up again. He briefly did, knocking out Anthony Rea in the 2nd round. But, it was another illusion, as he'd once again lose to Overeem when he quit. No, he didn't tap out, he just stopped fighting. He refused to engage. He disappointed those who still watched his highlight reels expecting history to repeat itself. Finally, in his last bout for PRIDE, he lost to Dan Henderson. He was pushed around, bullied, and beaten down. It was sad because it was predictable.

But, as Vitor is wont to do, he got up - again. He moved to middleweight and once again flirts with the idea of redefining himself. He knocked out Terry Martin in less than two rounds and flattened Matt Lindland in 37 seconds. The Lindland knock out was of such a brutal variety that it really was fairly compared to Vitor's early successes.

Now, Belfort returns to the UFC, which is fitting. His legacy is inside the Octagon. He will always be defined by those early moments of brilliance, so what better place to prove that he's truly learned from his mistakes? Rich Franklin will prove ample opportunities. Franklin is tough and won't roll over for anyone. If Belfort wants a win on Saturday, he'll have to earn it.

It has been 13 years since the teenaged Brazilian nicknamed, "The Phenom" shocked the MMA world. In those 13 years, Belfort has fallen time and time again. But, he's always gotten up, and perhaps that's the ultimate lesson; perhaps that's what makes Belfort special. Lesser men would've crumbled under the expectations, and while Belfort did at times, he always returned to his feet. Maybe Vitor's legacy isn't to be one of the greatest fighters of all time, maybe just being regarded as a really good fighter is enough. It should be. Maybe we, the fans, need to stop talking about the "Old Vitor." After all, would you want your entire life defined by 4 minutes of your late teens? A fighter doesn't need to be the greatest of all time in order to still be pretty damn good.

I don't see Vitor as a man that squandered his natural talents, I see him as a man that kept going. He got up when he never had to. He could have retired, gone back to Brazil, lived with his model wife and three children, and sat on the beach. But he didn't. Vitor keeps fighting when he's been given every reason not to. Perhaps that's the ultimate wisdom learned from Vitor Belfort: that that failing is OK and that heroes don't need to win every fight - sometimes it's enough that they just keep trying.

Mike Coughlin is the host of Five Star Radio. He knows that writing a column about failure is asking for trouble. He also knows his shoe size.