Longtime rivals Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva have agreed to meet inside a boxing ring in the main event of Spaten Fight Night 2, an event expected to take place Sept. 27 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Multiple people with knowledge of the situation confirmed the news to MMA Fighting.
Belfort and Silva met under MMA rules back in October 1998, a clash that ended by knockout in just 44 seconds in Sao Paulo.
“The Phenom” was victorious that night, the final appearance of that UFC stint before joining PRIDE. He would return to the octagon years later to finally claim a UFC belt in 2004. “The Axe Murderer” would join PRIDE a year after that bout, then starting a historic run as company champion between 2000 and 2006, winning 22 of 28 matches.
The Brazilian legends were scheduled to rematch in 2012 after coaching a season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, but Belfort was forced off the card in Belo Horizonte with a broken hand. Rich Franklin replaced him to capture a Fight of the Night bonus-winning decision at UFC 147.
Now members of the UFC Hall of Fame nearing 50 years of age, they now collide in a boxing ring, a first for Silva. Belfort was victorious in boxing matches against Evander Holyfield and Ronaldo Souza in 2021 and 2023, while Silva hasn’t fought since a 2018 knockout loss to Quinton Jackson in Bellator.
Spaten Fight Night held its first card in June 2024 in Sao Paulo, when Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen fought to a draw in a lackluster boxing exhibition.
Damon Martin contributed to this report.
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