1998 is a long time ago. Brazil is a far way away.
It was there that the world first saw Vitor Belfort.
Sure it had met him before, as the force of nature who took over the heavyweight bracket at UFC 12 and destroyed all in his path before similarly demolishing Tank Abbott in under a minute at UFC 13, but the UFC’s first foray into Brazil was the first time the world truly saw him.
Blistering across the cage to pump piston rights and lefts into the unsuspecting dome of Wanderlei Silva—an eventual legend in his own right—Belfort let the world know that he was as real as it got.