Vitor Belfort’s highly anticipated return to UFC serves as a rebirth — not only for his mixed martial arts career, but for a life containing as much controversy as tragedy.

Nicknamed the “Phenom” for the way he took the UFC by storm in 1997 — at 19, he was the youngest fighter to ever win in the Octagon (UFC 12) — the former UFC light heavyweight champion returns in a catchweight bout at 195 pounds against former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin as the main event of Saturday’s UFC 103 pay-per-view at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
The card features a record 13 scheduled bouts, including undercard appearances by UFC notables Josh Koscheck, Frank Trigg and Efrain Escudero, winner of the eighth season of Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Belfort (7-4 UFC record, 18-8 MMA record) has dealt with the kidnapping and subsequent murder of his sister Priscila in 2004 and a steroid scandal in 2006 that led to a nine-month ban. But the Brazilian is also a master at transforming negatives into positives and said he will prove against Franklin that he hasn’t missed a beat.
“Everything that has happened, good or bad, I use it to stay tough,” said Belfort, who most recently competed for the now-defunct Affliction. “I learn from everything I do in my life and I hope that for the moment things continue to turn good for me.”
Since his return to MMA following the ban, things have gone extremely well for Belfort. He is 4-0 with two victories by knockout. The most notable knockout was a win over middleweight Terry Martin in a fight for Affliction last July. Belfort dropped Martin in the second round despite breaking his left hand in two places on his first punch of Round 1.
“The first punch I threw was a straight left, I knew right away it broke,” Belfort said during a 2008 interview with Xtreme Couture. “But I had to keep going ... It (was) my left hand, my power hand, but I was able to pick his head up with an uppercut and end it (ironically) with a straight left.”
Franklin is well aware of Belfort’s resume, and his mental and physical toughness. Franklin (12-3 UFC, 27-4 MMA) is seeking to move up in weight from 185 to 205 because of a loaded middleweight division and hopes this fight puts him on the right track.
“This (fight) wasn’t my idea, this is something Vitor requested, but hey, I am resilient and I like to bang with people,” Franklin said. “I am assuming Vitor is coming out the best Vitor he can be and if the UFC has a fight fans want to see, then I’ll fight ... This is going to be a tough fight, but I am looking to get back on top. It doesn’t really matter to me if I do title fights or not, I see it more as if I continue to win fights, then eventually I’ll get back to having a title shot.”
YOUTH OVER EXPERIENCE?
The other big bout of the night finds Croatian heavyweight Mirko Cro Cop squaring off against Brazilian Junior Dos Santos.
Dos Santos (2-0 UFC, 8-1 MMA) packs a heavy hand and has proved it, perfect so far in the UFC, with both fights barely slipping into the second minute of the first round.
As for Cro Cop, the former PRIDE FC Grand Prix champion boasts 25 professional wins (25-6-2), but is 2-2 in the UFC. Rumors swirled after his latest fight, a TKO victory over Mustapha Al Turk at UFC 99 in Germany, that he would be leaving the outfit, but in a recent interview Cro Cop put those rumors to sleep.
“I am never going to play into rumors, people sometimes think they know what’s going on in my head even more than me,” Cro Cop, 35, said. “Of course, I am staying with the UFC, that’s where I am happiest. Dos Santos is definitely going to be a tough fight and right now that’s my focus.”
CRANKIN’ EM OUT
Dana White and the UFC are wasting little time putting fights together. Not including 103, the UFC has three more pay-per-views planned before the end of the year thus far. UFC 104 finds Lyoto Machida — fresh off a knockout of Rashad Evans — in a main event against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Oct. 24.
The UFC then heads to England, where MMA legend Randy Couture — the 46-year-old who recently signed a six-fight contract extension — will touch mitts against Brandon Vera in UFC 105. Also Michael Bisping, the British fight legend, gets a homecoming against Denis Kang.
Just this week, the promotion announced UFC 106 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on Nov. 21. So far, the card has heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar against someone his own imposing size, Shane “Colossus” Carwin, in a co-main event. In the other featured bout, “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz returns against 44-year-old UFC Hall of Famer Mark “The Hammer” Coleman.
In other news, Joe Hand Promotions has extended its deal with the UFC for exclusive U.S. rights to events on pay-per-view and closed-circuit TV ... UFC sister outfit World Extreme Cagefighting will show fight broadcasts in Australia starting Oct. 10 via International sports TV giant Setanta Sports.