Belfort would be a different matchup, as his boxing prowess was known aside from his great grappling credentials. However, despite several big flurries by the Brazilian to open the match, Sakuraba went unscathed and took Belfort down, proceeding to land ground and pound. As Belfort would not leave the mat through the match, in part due to a broken hand in one of his own combos, Sakuraba deployed his improved strategy and punished Vitor with leg kicks and jumping stomps to the head, as well as landing unanswered striking combinations every time Belfort was called up by the referee. At the end, as Pride had just implemented the judges system, Sakuraba was awarded his first decision victory unanimously.