Souza (left) and Belfort (photo via UFC)

By FCF Staff

Vitor Belfort was quickly pounded out by “Jacare” Souza at UFC 198 last night, and Kenny Florian believes the star may have wanted out, after the initial exchange on the ground.

Souza took Belfort to the floor not long into the fight, and quickly cut the middleweight contender with shots from above. The latter was able to get back to his feet, but once the bout returned to the deck, Souza’s top game proved to be too much.

After Souza’s emphatic victory, Florian had this to say about Belfort’s performance during FOX Sports 1’s post-fight show (quote via FOX Sports press release):

“Once he was cut, it looked like he wanted out of that fight. If you want to be better, you can’t let someone walk through the guard like that. Maybe Vitor was trying to pace himself, waiting to counter Jacare, but it hurt him.”

Souza has gone 6-1 now since he arrived in the UFC. The victory followed his tightly contested, split decision loss to Yoel Romero last December.