Vitor Belfort Net Worth

What is Vitor Belfort's Net Worth?

Vitor Belfort is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist who has a net worth of $5 million. Vitor Belfort competed in the UFC, PRIDE FC, Cage Rage, and Affliction in a career spanning over 20 years. He fought in three different divisions, and won the UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament Championship, the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, and the Cage Rage Light Heavyweight Championship. Belfort has also competed in submission grappling and boxing.

Early Life

Vitor Belfort was born on April 1, 1977, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to a Greek-Brazilian mother and a French-Brazilian father. He had a sister named Priscila who disappeared in early 2004 and was alleged to have been kidnapped and murdered for a debt she owed to drug dealers.

When he was 12, Belfort began training in boxing under Claudio Coelho. He later trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Carlson Gracie, and won the Absolute and Heavyweight titles as an under-18 blue belt at the Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championships.

Mixed Martial Arts Career, Part 1

Belfort traveled to the United States in 1996 to compete in mixed martial arts. He made his debut at SuperBrawl 2 in Hawaii, where he knocked out his much bigger opponent, Jon Hess, in 12 seconds. Belfort moved up to the Ultimate Fighting Championship in early 1997, and defeated both of his opponents in his debut UFC event, at UFC 12. As a result, he became the Heavyweight Tournament Champion. In his next fight, a non-tournament match at UFC 13, Belfort defeated Tank Abbott via TKO. He went on to lose his first professional fight when Randy Couture beat him by TKO at UFC 15. Belfort fought and won two more UFC fights, in late 1997 and 1998, before he joined Japan's PRIDE FC promotion in 1999. In his debut at PRIDE 5, he lost to Kazushi Sakuraba by unanimous decision. Over a year later, at PRIDE 9 in mid-2000, Belfort defeated Gilbert Yvel. He went on to win his next three PRIDE fights, with the final one being in the spring of 2001.

Belfort returned to the UFC in 2002, and lost to Chuck Liddell. The next year, he defeated Marvin Eastman via TKO at UFC 43. In early 2004, Belfort faced Randy Couture for the second time in his career, and this time beat him to claim the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. However, in a rematch that summer, Couture regained the title. In his next fight, at UFC 51 in early 2005, Belfort narrowly lost to Tito Ortiz in a controversial split decision. He subsequently returned to PRIDE FC, and lost to Alistair Overeem. At the end of 2005, Belfort joined the Cage Rage Championships and defeated Antony Rea at Cage Rage 14. The following year, he lost to Alistair Overeem for the second time in his career, this time in a Strikeforce fight. Returning to PRIDE FC after that, Belfort beat Kazuo Takahashi. He then lost to Dan Henderson at PRIDE 32, and after the fight tested positive for an illegal steroid. Consequently, Belfort was issued a nine-month suspension and a fine.

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Mixed Martial Arts Career, Part 2

Coming back from his suspension in 2007, Belfort defeated Ivan Serati at Cage Rage 21. In his next fight, against James Zikic at Cage Rage 23, he won the Cage Rage Light Heavyweight Championship. Belfort went on to join the Affliction promotion in 2008, and defeated Terry Martin. After winning his second Affliction fight, against Matt Lindland in early 2009, he returned to the UFC and defeated Rich Franklin via TKO at UFC 103. Due to multiple fight cancellations, Belfort didn't have another match until early 2011, when he was defeated by Anderson Silva in a UFC Middleweight Championship fight at UFC 126. Later that year, he beat Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133. In 2012, Belfort beat Anthony Johnson at UFC 142 and lost to Jon Jones at UFC 152.

Belfort had one of his best years in 2013, winning all three of his fights and earning Knockout of the Night awards for each. He didn't compete again until 2015, when he lost to Chris Weidman and then won against Dan Henderson. In 2016, he lost both of his matches, and in 2017 he beat Nate Marquardt at UFC 212 after his previous loss to Kelvin Gastelum was overturned due to Gastelum's positive drug test. Belfort fought the final MMA match of his career in May of 2018, at UFC 224, where he lost to Lyoto Machida via knockout. After the fight, he announced his retirement. Belfort reportedly came out of retirement to sign with ONE Championship in 2019, but he ended up leaving the promotion before having any fights.

(Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Grappling and Boxing

During his MMA career, Belfort also competed in submission grappling and boxing. In the former, he participated in the 2001 ADCC World Championship, where he won the bronze medal in the Absolute division. Belfort made his professional boxing debut in 2006, beating Josemario Neves via knockout. He stopped boxing after that, only returning to the ring in 2021 for an exhibition match against Evander Holyfield. Belfort won that match by TKO. He had the second professional boxing match of his career in 2023, when he defeated fellow MMA veteran Ronaldo Souza by unanimous decision.

Personal Life

In 2000, Belfort began dating model and sports reporter Joana Prado. Although they broke up at one point, they reconciled and then married in 2003. The couple has three children named Vitoria, Davi, and Kyara.

Real Estate

In 2018, Vitor sold a home in Parkland, Florida, for $1.35 million. In 2019, Vitor paid $2.16 million for a home in Lighthouse Point, Florida. He sold this home for sale in May 2021 for $2.89 million. In March 2022, he paid $1.4 million for a home in Coral Springs, Florida.

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