Vitor Belfort beat Luke Rockhold in the first round of their middlewight fight at UFC on FX 8 on Saturday with an absolutely stunning spinning heel kick to the head.
Belfort knocked Rockhold down with the kick then jumped on him for a few punches before the referee stopped the fight with 2:32 left in the round. The win improves Belfort’s record to 23-10 and gives him four wins in his last five fights, with his loss coming to Jon Jones.
“I’m stronger than ever … as I was before,” Belfort said after the fight.
When asked if he felt he deserved another shot at the UFC middleweight title, Belfort deferred comment.
“I’m here to fight. I don’t pick fights, I accept fights. The fans decide it, Dana White,” he said.
Rockhold, who drops to 10-2, praised Belfort for the spinning heel kick.
“I take my hat off. He landed a spinning heel kick to my head. I didn’t see that one coming … what can I say? He caught me with a spinning heel kick to my head. Kudos to him.”
Here’s another look at the knockdown kick from the other angle:
GIFs via Zombie Prophet, Mock Session
