Former UFC world champion Vitor Belfort has come out in defense of last month's first round blowout of 58-year-old Evander Holyfield.

Holyfield, a former undisputed cruiserweight and heavyweight champion, took the fight on very late notice after Oscar De La Hoya withdrew with a COVID-19 diagnosis. It was Holyfield's first bout since 2011.

The boxing match, which headlined a Triller Fight Club pay-per-view event, saw Belfort come out firing with both hands and it didn't take long before he dropped Holyfield. Once Holyfield got up, Belfort quickly jumped on him with a barrage of power punches to force the referee's intervention to stop the fight.

Belfort and Triller came under heavy fire from the critics, who felt Holyfield had no business being in the ring.

The MMA veteran disagrees, explaining that Holyfield was still very capable and nearly took his head off with a big punch.

"He tried to rip my head off, he knocked himself out at one point and [threw] such a cross that he fell to the canvas by himself. If I don’t dodge [that punch], my head would be rolling on the floor. Then people criticize [me for what I did in the fight]. I’m not worried about that. I beat the most powerful heavyweight in history, who beat Mike Tyson. Unfortunately, the haters will be there to criticize you. If I fight a guy over 50 is it worth it? If I win they will criticize," Belfort told AG Fight.

"He is [strong like] a horse and he was boxing well and I was very precise. Nobody talks about my accuracy, how good I was. They talk about how bad he was. He wasn’t bad, I demolished him."