Rio de Janeiro is known as a city with wonderful landscapes and hospitable people. But like all cities, it has two sides.

The bad in the most famous of all Brazilian cities includes the slums and the violence inside them. Of course everyone who lives in these impoverished communities wants to have a real chance in society. Until a few years ago, however, only the soccer projects in these areas could catapult the participants to a better way of living.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu has since become popular and now offers the same chance of success and recognition. One dreamer following the BJJ route is Nova Uniao brown belt Hacran Dias (Pictures), a 23-year-old lightweight prospect of Andre Pederneiras.

"Marlon Sandro (Pictures) started a BJJ project in Santo Amaro community in 2004, and I had a reserved seat in those classes," Dias told Sherdog.com.

Dias developed at an extraordinary rate just practicing with beginners. Soon he officially joined Nova Uniao and began training with one of the most respected groups of lightweights in the world. After improving so rapidly with novices, his progression only continued alongside high-caliber fighters like Vitor Ribeiro (Pictures), Jose Aldo, Robson Moura (Pictures), Pedro Rizzo (Pictures), Marcos Galvao (Pictures), Rodrigo Ruas (Pictures), Antoine Jaoude (Pictures), Tony DeSouza (Pictures), Luis Ramos and Sandro himself.

"The dream came true," an excited Dias said. "I was at the side of my idols, sharing the same mat. This was one of the most special days in my life. ‘Shaolin,' Sandro and Aldo are my heroes."

Dias eventually transitioned from the 154-pound weight class to 165 pounds. In the meantime, he kept winning. For his first MMA competition, Pederneiras had not hesitated to insert the newcomer into a four-man tournament. Dias didn't disappoint his master, capturing the belt.

Two more matches came in different shows, and he won both. In April 2007 Dias faced Alexandre Franca Nogueira (Pictures)'s brother, Leonardo Nogueira, a fighter who had lost three in a row and didn't appear to be a reasonable challenge.

A complicated first round followed, however. Nogueira took Dias down and almost tarnished his perfect 4-0 record. Yet Dias recovered after the first stanza and needed only 55 seconds in the following round to unleash a series of strikes that forced Nogueira to tap out.

After three more victories and some tough training, Dias now stands at a flawless 7-0, with only two wins via decision. Not only is his ground game good, his standup has also landed opponents on the canvas.

"Giovani Diniz (Pictures) is polishing my boxing, and Rodrigo Ruas (Pictures) does the same with my muay Thai," Dias said. "I can't guarantee myself in a fight only with BJJ. So this is the reason I'm handling opponents with standup backgrounds in my fights. But I never forget the ground game."

Grabbing his international chance after hard work on the Brazilian MMA circuit, Dias will face Takafumi Ito (Pictures) at a Pancrase Shining Tour event March 26 at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall.

"By what I saw of him, he likes to wear wrestling shoes," Dias said. "I think he will wish to take me down, but if we are going to exchange BJJ, I think everybody knows the level of [Nova União fighters]. I'm sure I can't deny [Ito's merits] on the ground or on the feet, but I'm going to submit him or knock him out."

Dias is also looking to follow in the footsteps of teammates like "Shaolin" Ribeiro and Sandro, who reached title fights without losses on their résumés.

"My head is [following] that momentum in my career," he said. "Sandro is 10-0 and has a title match now in the same show that I'm debuting in internationally. ‘Shaolin' got his Shooto Japan belt while still undefeated. Well I want to repeat that and grab the 155-pound title of Pancrase."