The Brazilian Notebook: Vitor Boxes, Fighters Wait
Gleidson Venga Apr 27, 2006
With PRIDE not specifying which Brazilian fighters will be on the
Open-Weight Grand Prix card, the athletes are all training and
dreaming about taking part in the May 5 show.
Vitor Belfort (Pictures) didn’t want sit and wait. He made his professional boxing debut by destroying his opponent in an event promoted by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures).
Lacking a heavyweight fighter on the level of its lighter-weight
competitors, like Wanderlei
Silva (Pictures) and Mauricio Rua (Pictures), Chute Boxe has announced its new
enforcer at 248 pounds.
And Wallid Ismail (Pictures) hasn’t wasted any effort in looking for better bouts for his Jungle Fight promotion, as he seems willing to bring veterans from throughout the world to his event.
Vitor Belfort (Pictures) did a great job on his pro boxing debut, as he faced Josemario Neves on the Minotauro Fight 3, promoted by “Minotauro” Nogueira on April 11.
During the fight Belfort took control, dropping his opponent three times and forcing the referee to stop the match in less than a minute. Very happy, Belfort celebrated with his family and declared that he was waiting for a call to fight in the PRIDE event. However it now appears Belfort will fight Kevin Randleman (Pictures) June 9 on the Strikeforce card in San Jose, Calif.
Minotauro Fight 3 also featured seven mixed martial arts fights, one of them for women, and four boxing contests. The event took place in Salvador and was considered a success, with exciting fights and an excellent audience.
“Minotoro” anxious for the PRIDE GP
Off since June 2005, when he lost by judges’ decision to Mauricio Rua (Pictures) during the second round of the PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Pictures) lamented about having so much time off.
“I think it was some kind of politics,” he said, “but I wanted to fight earlier. After that fight with ‘Shogun’ I was hoping to fight in October and after, in December. This time, in February, I kinda of gave up. But on the others I was always training.”
Looking forward to a potential slot in the Open-Weight GP, the fighter has been training harder than ever, anxiously waiting for an invitation from PRIDE.
“I’m expecting to be called once, according with what I did last year. I have a chance to be among the best ones,” Rogerio said. “I don’t have much to prove that I can be among them. I’m pretty sure I’m among the tops. If I have the chance to fight against them, everybody will see I’m on the same level.”
The new heavyweight fighter of Chute Boxe
With 10 MMA fights on his ledger, 248-pound, 6’ 4” Edgard Castadelli is the newest member of the Chute Boxe Team to fight among the heavyweights. A BJJ and taekwondo black-belt fighter, in addition to his boxing experience, Castadelli was welcome by his colleagues with the promise of being scheduled on the next edition of Meca or Storm Samurai. Jungle Fight 6 has its card almost ready
Established as one of the top events in Brazil, the Jungle Fight comes with its sixth edition on April 29. Jungle Fight promoter Wallid Ismail (Pictures) is about to conclude its card, which has veterans from PRIDE and UFC like “Pele” and Tony DeSouza (Pictures). Also on the bill is Ryoto Machida (Pictures), the only fighter to defeat current UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin (Pictures).
As of Thursday the card looks like this:
Davina Maciel vs. Kanako Inaba
Frédson Paixão vs. Marco Loro
Ronaldo Jacaré vs. Alexsander Shamelenko
Thales Leites (Pictures) vs. Jose Landi-Jons (Pictures)
Tony DeSouza (Pictures) vs. Katel Kubis
Lyoto Machida vs. Dimitri Wanderlei
Shinzo Machida vs. Bryan Rafiq
Alexandre Cacareco vs. Márcio Corleta
Danillo Índio vs. Froid Hansen
Liborio celebrates the victory of Marcus Aurelio (Marcus Aurelio' class='LinkSilver'>Pictures)
The submission Marcus Aurelio (Marcus Aurelio' class='LinkSilver'>Pictures) put on Takanori Gomi (Pictures) at PRIDE Bushido 10 was reason for celebration in Brazil and among the American Top Team. Aurelio’s coach, Ricardo Liborio (Pictures), talked about the impressive result of his pupil.
“This was the most important victory for Brazil in the last years,” Liborio said. “Marcus was mentally ready for that combat and those who train with him know about his skills.”
Though the bout wasn’t for Gomi’s 160-pound PRIDE lightweight belt, Liborio warns he’s negotiating the revenge of his pupil against the Japanese Idol.
“The revenge for the belt was 90 percent set before the fight, but I believe the promoters weren’t expecting that Gomi would be defeated. Now we’re gonna negotiate. Once Marcus’s contract is over we’re gonna wait for the offers.”
A leader of ATT and very respected in Brazil for his sharpened jiu-jitsu, Liborio commented about what the fans of his team should expect in the next years to come.
“I use to say that ATT is like a young whale, which is born big but it’s still a baby anyway,” he said. “All the other teams are years ahead of us, but we have a very extreme professional program, offering a kind of support for our fighters that no other team could do, which make things easier on our job. I can visualize ATT on the top of the world within two years. We’re known here and we’re going well in Japan. We’re a big family, with union and a unique thought that we will be the best in the world.”
Brazilian promotes MMA event in Slovenia
Known as one of the best physically prepared fighters in Brazil, BJJ black belt fighter Paulo Caruso is on the promotion staff for the World Free Fight Challenge, which will take place May 20 in the city of Kooper, Slovenia.
The first WFC will pit Brazil versus Europe, with 10 MMA fights. The following are confirmed athletes on the card: Evangelista Santos (Pictures), José “Pele” Landi, Nino Schembri, Edson Drago (Pictures) and Carlos Baruch.
Expected to attend are Rodrigo “Minotauro,” Rogerio “Minotoro,” Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) and Alistair Overeem (Pictures).
News and Notes
Three Brazilians who are veterans of K-1 were in action at Demolition Fight 3, which took place on April 8 in São Paulo. The event followed the same rules as K-1. Eduardo Maiorino, a new Chute Boxe member, beat “Montanha” Silva by judges’ decision, while Marfio Canoletti, who fights in K-1 Max, won by knockout in the first round. … Antoine Jaoude (Pictures) conquered his 12th Brazilian wrestling title on April 8. Considered one of the greatest Brazilian wrestlers ever, Jaoude defeated Renato Sobral (Pictures) in one of the best and disputed fights of the event. “I’m always trying to rumble, and I think that’s the formula to be all this time undefeated,” Jaoude said. “Year after year this championship becomes harder and the level is raising up fast, especially due to the entrance of athletes coming from other fight styles, like judo, jiu-jitsu and MMA. For me it was an honor to face Renato “Babalu” in the semifinal. I’m very happy.” … Rodrigo Riscado and Vitor Miranda are the new sparing partners of Mirko “Cro Cop” in Croatia. Looking for talented Brazilian fighters, Mirko invited Riscado, a BJJ black belt fighter, to help prepare his ground game. Meanwhile, Miranda will be Filipovic’s sparring partner on the feet. Fabricio Werdum (Pictures), the Croatian’s BJJ professor, is in Rio de Janeiro training for his fight versus Alistair Overeem (Pictures) in the Open-Weight May 5, as well as helping out his teammate Marcio Corleta for the Jungle Fight 6. … After having hosted MECA FC three times, the city of Teresopolis will be home to the first edition of Golden Fighters on May 20. The event has three confirmed fights — three Brazilian classics in MMA, including a female fight. Aloísio “Dado” will face Alex Gaze (Pictures). Fabricio Morango will square off with Luiz “Besouro.” And Vanessa Porto will face Ana Maria.
Vitor Belfort (Pictures) didn’t want sit and wait. He made his professional boxing debut by destroying his opponent in an event promoted by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures).
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And Wallid Ismail (Pictures) hasn’t wasted any effort in looking for better bouts for his Jungle Fight promotion, as he seems willing to bring veterans from throughout the world to his event.
Vitor Belfort
(Pictures) debuts in professional
boxing
Vitor Belfort (Pictures) did a great job on his pro boxing debut, as he faced Josemario Neves on the Minotauro Fight 3, promoted by “Minotauro” Nogueira on April 11.
During the fight Belfort took control, dropping his opponent three times and forcing the referee to stop the match in less than a minute. Very happy, Belfort celebrated with his family and declared that he was waiting for a call to fight in the PRIDE event. However it now appears Belfort will fight Kevin Randleman (Pictures) June 9 on the Strikeforce card in San Jose, Calif.
Minotauro Fight 3 also featured seven mixed martial arts fights, one of them for women, and four boxing contests. The event took place in Salvador and was considered a success, with exciting fights and an excellent audience.
“Minotoro” anxious for the PRIDE GP
Off since June 2005, when he lost by judges’ decision to Mauricio Rua (Pictures) during the second round of the PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Pictures) lamented about having so much time off.
“I think it was some kind of politics,” he said, “but I wanted to fight earlier. After that fight with ‘Shogun’ I was hoping to fight in October and after, in December. This time, in February, I kinda of gave up. But on the others I was always training.”
Looking forward to a potential slot in the Open-Weight GP, the fighter has been training harder than ever, anxiously waiting for an invitation from PRIDE.
“I’m expecting to be called once, according with what I did last year. I have a chance to be among the best ones,” Rogerio said. “I don’t have much to prove that I can be among them. I’m pretty sure I’m among the tops. If I have the chance to fight against them, everybody will see I’m on the same level.”
The new heavyweight fighter of Chute Boxe
With 10 MMA fights on his ledger, 248-pound, 6’ 4” Edgard Castadelli is the newest member of the Chute Boxe Team to fight among the heavyweights. A BJJ and taekwondo black-belt fighter, in addition to his boxing experience, Castadelli was welcome by his colleagues with the promise of being scheduled on the next edition of Meca or Storm Samurai. Jungle Fight 6 has its card almost ready
Established as one of the top events in Brazil, the Jungle Fight comes with its sixth edition on April 29. Jungle Fight promoter Wallid Ismail (Pictures) is about to conclude its card, which has veterans from PRIDE and UFC like “Pele” and Tony DeSouza (Pictures). Also on the bill is Ryoto Machida (Pictures), the only fighter to defeat current UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin (Pictures).
As of Thursday the card looks like this:
Davina Maciel vs. Kanako Inaba
Frédson Paixão vs. Marco Loro
Ronaldo Jacaré vs. Alexsander Shamelenko
Thales Leites (Pictures) vs. Jose Landi-Jons (Pictures)
Tony DeSouza (Pictures) vs. Katel Kubis
Lyoto Machida vs. Dimitri Wanderlei
Shinzo Machida vs. Bryan Rafiq
Alexandre Cacareco vs. Márcio Corleta
Danillo Índio vs. Froid Hansen
Liborio celebrates the victory of Marcus Aurelio (Marcus Aurelio' class='LinkSilver'>Pictures)
The submission Marcus Aurelio (Marcus Aurelio' class='LinkSilver'>Pictures) put on Takanori Gomi (Pictures) at PRIDE Bushido 10 was reason for celebration in Brazil and among the American Top Team. Aurelio’s coach, Ricardo Liborio (Pictures), talked about the impressive result of his pupil.
“This was the most important victory for Brazil in the last years,” Liborio said. “Marcus was mentally ready for that combat and those who train with him know about his skills.”
Though the bout wasn’t for Gomi’s 160-pound PRIDE lightweight belt, Liborio warns he’s negotiating the revenge of his pupil against the Japanese Idol.
“The revenge for the belt was 90 percent set before the fight, but I believe the promoters weren’t expecting that Gomi would be defeated. Now we’re gonna negotiate. Once Marcus’s contract is over we’re gonna wait for the offers.”
A leader of ATT and very respected in Brazil for his sharpened jiu-jitsu, Liborio commented about what the fans of his team should expect in the next years to come.
“I use to say that ATT is like a young whale, which is born big but it’s still a baby anyway,” he said. “All the other teams are years ahead of us, but we have a very extreme professional program, offering a kind of support for our fighters that no other team could do, which make things easier on our job. I can visualize ATT on the top of the world within two years. We’re known here and we’re going well in Japan. We’re a big family, with union and a unique thought that we will be the best in the world.”
Brazilian promotes MMA event in Slovenia
Known as one of the best physically prepared fighters in Brazil, BJJ black belt fighter Paulo Caruso is on the promotion staff for the World Free Fight Challenge, which will take place May 20 in the city of Kooper, Slovenia.
The first WFC will pit Brazil versus Europe, with 10 MMA fights. The following are confirmed athletes on the card: Evangelista Santos (Pictures), José “Pele” Landi, Nino Schembri, Edson Drago (Pictures) and Carlos Baruch.
Expected to attend are Rodrigo “Minotauro,” Rogerio “Minotoro,” Mirko Filipovic (Pictures) and Alistair Overeem (Pictures).
News and Notes
Three Brazilians who are veterans of K-1 were in action at Demolition Fight 3, which took place on April 8 in São Paulo. The event followed the same rules as K-1. Eduardo Maiorino, a new Chute Boxe member, beat “Montanha” Silva by judges’ decision, while Marfio Canoletti, who fights in K-1 Max, won by knockout in the first round. … Antoine Jaoude (Pictures) conquered his 12th Brazilian wrestling title on April 8. Considered one of the greatest Brazilian wrestlers ever, Jaoude defeated Renato Sobral (Pictures) in one of the best and disputed fights of the event. “I’m always trying to rumble, and I think that’s the formula to be all this time undefeated,” Jaoude said. “Year after year this championship becomes harder and the level is raising up fast, especially due to the entrance of athletes coming from other fight styles, like judo, jiu-jitsu and MMA. For me it was an honor to face Renato “Babalu” in the semifinal. I’m very happy.” … Rodrigo Riscado and Vitor Miranda are the new sparing partners of Mirko “Cro Cop” in Croatia. Looking for talented Brazilian fighters, Mirko invited Riscado, a BJJ black belt fighter, to help prepare his ground game. Meanwhile, Miranda will be Filipovic’s sparring partner on the feet. Fabricio Werdum (Pictures), the Croatian’s BJJ professor, is in Rio de Janeiro training for his fight versus Alistair Overeem (Pictures) in the Open-Weight May 5, as well as helping out his teammate Marcio Corleta for the Jungle Fight 6. … After having hosted MECA FC three times, the city of Teresopolis will be home to the first edition of Golden Fighters on May 20. The event has three confirmed fights — three Brazilian classics in MMA, including a female fight. Aloísio “Dado” will face Alex Gaze (Pictures). Fabricio Morango will square off with Luiz “Besouro.” And Vanessa Porto will face Ana Maria.
